Philadelphia Extends Youth Curfew After Flash Mobs

A stricter curfew for minors will be extended two weeks, because the measure has been successful in helping to curb violent attacks by teen mobs that had severely injured several people in recent months, city officials said.

The 9 p.m. summertime curfew was put in place earlier this month downtown and in the University City neighborhood–home to the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Mayor Michael Nutter’s administration is extending it two weeks, until the regular school-year curfew takes effect.

His spokesman Mark McDonald said the curfew is sending “a very strong message.”

“It’s a success, a relative success,” McDonald said Monday. “We will pick up any child who violates the curfew. . . . We are enforcing it. And going forward we are enforcing it.”

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The special summertime curfew applies to all children under age 18, with a handful of exceptions, such as youths traveling to jobs.

The regular school-year curfew starts Sept. 6. Under that city ordinance, youth ages 13 to 17 are subject to a 10:30 p.m. curfew on weekdays and a midnight curfew on weekends; children up through age 12 have a curfew of 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends.

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