Baltimore police are enforcing the city’s curfew this summer, but some parents aren’t liking it.

The citywide curfew for children under 17 has existed since 1978 (11 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends). Before this year, however, it was nothing but a “de facto cab service,” according to the police commissioner. Now, thanks to a $120,000 federal grant, kids are rounded up and held at Nicholas Elementary School until their parents/guardians come to claim them.

While at the school, the children are photographed and fed, while workers check their names against a database of open warrants and probation records. The night the Sun reporter visited, 11 of 64 kids there were found in that database — many of whom remained at the center late into the night, unclaimed by their parents.

Said a DJS spokeswoman of the program: “It gives us the opportunity to have meaningful contact with [juvenile offenders]. We’re reaching them immediately and finding out why they are on the streets at night.”

Some parents of the other 53 kids — who likely may have been outside just to escape an un-air-conditioned home — weren’t as excited about that opportunity. Said a grandmother at the school: “I really consider this kidnapping. It’s like a dog pound coming through, scooping up children like that. They’re treating [my grandson] like a criminal when all he was doing was walking to a friend’s house to stay the night.”

Another mother appreciated the value of the effort — but just not in her case. Her 10-year-old son and his 8-year-old friend were picked up while playing catch outside of her home when she stepped inside to put her baby to bed. The mother said: “My child’s not a bad kid. He was probably scared to death.”

On the other hand, some parents expressed appreciation for the police’s efforts because they are unable to control the children themselves. The mother of a detained 14-year-old girl said: “When she doesn’t want to abide by my rules, she just doesn’t come home. I don’t know what to do. It just seems like if you’re not a drug addict and if you’re not beating the hell out of your kids, there’s no help for you.”

Should police be grabbing children from outside their homes? Yes, it’s technically a violation, but efforts could be better directed towards children just standing around on street corners or even in parks — although if I lived on a block with kids, my thoughts might be different. Are those of you with neighborhood kids playing catch in the street at 11:30 p.m. more appreciative of the city’s new babysitting service?

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