IMPD says curfew is working, but isn't tracking enforcement

• But Axios and Chalkbeat Indiana have learned the department isn't tracking that enforcement.

Why it matters: A record number of Indianapolis young people were killed by gunfire last year, despite overall homicides trending down.

• Enforcing the curfew was supposed to be another tool in the city's ongoing effort to curb the skyrocketing youth gun violence problem, but it's hard to evaluate how well that effort is working if the department isn't keeping track of the number of minors being impacted by the stricter enforcement strategy.

What they're saying: "We were trying to get parents and guardians to step it up so we didn't have to enforce it," said IMPD spokesperson Alexa Boylan, "and that's what we're seeing."

• Boylan said she's only aware of three minors — ages 10, 16 and 17 — who have been picked up by police and were later released to their parents.

Yes, but: The department wasn't tracking curfew violations before stepping up enforcement in April and hasn't been tracking them since, Boylan said.

For example: Instances when police warn minors about the curfew and they disperse without being picked up, such as during the July Fourth weekend when IMPD broke up a "large gathering of juveniles" downtown, are not being tracked or recorded.

Between the lines: This approach is not uncommon in public policy.

• Thomas Stuckey, a professor of criminal justice at IU Indianapolis, said policymakers trying to address problems in real time often rely on anecdotal evidence, rather than collecting and analyzing data in a scientific way.
• But when evaluating the effect of a policy change, he said, "the answer is very often we don't know."

How it works: Children younger than 15 cannot be in public without an adult between 11pm and 5am every day.

• The curfew is the same for teens between 15 and 17 during weekdays, but extended until 1am on Saturdays and Sundays.
• There are several exceptions, including minors traveling for work, a school activity, religious event or emergency.

What they're doing: IMPD officers use the public address systems on their patrol cars to make announcements about the curfew 30 and 15 minutes before it, followed by another at curfew time.

• Kids found breaking curfew can be picked up by officers who will then attempt to alert parents or guardians.
• Parents will have "a reasonable amount of time" to pick up their child before they're taken to the juvenile detention center.
• Violating the curfew is a noncriminal offense.

The other side: Enforcing the curfew may not be an effective strategy to curb youth violence anyway, according to Dena Carson, a criminal justice expert at IU Indianapolis.

• Curfews are a method of intervention rather than prevention, she said, and they disproportionately affect youth of color.
• "We might be causing more harm in the long run in terms of the negative consequences of police contact," Carson said.

This article was co-published with Chalkbeat Indiana's Haley Miller as part of a reporting partnership about youth gun violence in Indianapolis. Read the Chalkbeat Indiana story here.

Go deeper: More reporting about youth gun violence by Chalkbeat Indiana and Axios Indianapolis:

• Number of young people killed in Indianapolis reaches five-year high
• Safe storage bills stagnate while more young people are dying by gunfire
  Indy's plan to stop youth violence
• Latest mass shooting involving youth part of larger trend
• Local mentoring program tries to reach at-risk youth before gun violence
• Youth violence prevention program Summer in the City at capacity