California Gov. Pete Wilson is pushing a state-wide juvenile curfew as the most effective way to cut juvenile crime. The idea has instant appeal, but a look at crime data in cities where curfews have been tried suggests they do more for the politicians who propound them than for the public that pays to enforce them. PNS commentator Vincent Schiraldi is Executive Director of the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, a non-profit public policy organization based in San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

In his recent State of the State address, California Governor Pete Wilson proposed what is fast becoming this year's crime control panacea -- a statewide juvenile curfew.

The common sense logic behind curfew laws -- that kids ought to be off the streets at a decent hour and that government should do all it can to help in that regard -- seems irrefutable. In cities as diverse as Dallas and Detroit, Phoenix and Washington, D.C., juveniles now have government-imposed and enforced curfew laws.

But if curfews are catching on, it's not because there's any evidence that they work. In fact, a survey of crime statistics in cities where curfews have been tried suggests they fall far short of expectations.

* In Detroit, a curfew was established in the wake of that city's infamous "Devil's Night." Despite increased police presence and free cable television on Halloween, arsons in Detroit have virtually doubled, from 223 in 1989 to 441 in 1994.

* By contrast, when San Francisco rolled back its curfew law in 1990 following reports revealing that minority youth were significantly over-represented in curfew arrests, juvenile crime -- as measured by arrests -- actually dropped by 16 percent.

* In Phoenix, a curfew imposed in 1993 was combined with an increase in recreation center hours to help kids find healthy alternatives to "hanging out." During the summer when recreation facilities were kept open late, juvenile crime dropped as much as 55 percent. But in the fall, when recreation hours were curtailed, crime by juveniles rose again.

* New Orleans Mayor Mark Morial, now running for a seat in the Senate, credits his city's curfew law for a 27 percent drop in juvenile crime. But far more potent may have been that the city tripled its recreation centers, provided 1,300 additional youth jobs, and established a $1.5 million volunteer program. Indeed, during the first year of the curfew, the number of killings rose so sharply that New Orleans claimed the nation's highest murder rate. This year, as curfew enforcement is ebbing, so is the homicide rate.

* In Oakland, Ca., last year, city officials evaluated the potential costs and benefits from a curfew before rejecting it as an option for their city. Their analysis revealed that, like the rest of the country, 80 percent of juvenile crime in Oakland occurs between the hours of 9:00 am and 10:00 pm, times unaffected by most curfew laws.

Another factor that figured in the Oakland decision was the realization that for some teenagers, the street offers a safer option than staying at home. (Homicides at home are among the top five causes of death for children). Forcing children to choose between violating curfew or remaining at home during a drunken parental rage places them in an untenable situation.

The most troubling impact of curfew laws is not their failure to reduce juvenile crime, despite the high cost of enforcing them. It's the selective way in which they are enforced, with the brunt of arrests falling consistently on inner-city teenagers. In New Orleans, for example, African American youth are arrested for curfew violations at 19 times the rate of whites. If white youth were being arrested at 19 times the rate of African American youth, there would be no debate over the effectiveness of New Orleans' curfew because New Orleans would not have a curfew -- period.

If there is one pattern to discern from the crime data, it's that where curfews and lower crime go hand in hand, it's in cities that are expanding alternatives for kids to both home and street. Meanwhile, if healing the racial schisms in our society counts as much as controlling crime, abolishing curfew laws should be at the top of the urban agenda.