Some residents and people who frequent the community said the rules have kept it safer and quieter, though a double killing took place there in January, and two others were killed there last year.
"There's nothing out here for kids to do [late at night] but get into trouble," said Ty Johnson, 37, whose son, 16, lives in Bay Ridge.
Alderman Sam Shropshire appeared to be the most vocal critic of a youth curfew. "I don't think it's workable," he said. "What are you going to do with them once you pick them up? It takes the police officer two hours to write up a report. We just don't have the mechanism to handle this."
While acknowledging a curfew could be tough to implement because of a police staffing shortage, Alderman Ross Arnett said a curfew could enable police to prevent other crimes. A violation of the curfew could give police probable cause to search a youth for a gun.
"The first thing we want to do is really to get children out of harm's way," Arnett said. "It is well-known that youth as young as 13 are walking around armed. There's all kinds of nuances to this that could have impact."
Alderman David Cordle, who led an effort in 2002 to approve a curfew that failed, 5-3, said he plans to meet with the housing authority, clergy, the local Boys and Girls Club and police before taking a position this time.
"We're doing the same things over and over again, and perhaps now, people are seeing the light that we have to try something different," he said.
Moyer, however, hasn't abandoned the idea of a curfew in public housing. Though Eric Brown, executive director of the Annapolis Housing Authority, opposes the idea, she suggested his agency implement one there in lieu of a city-enforced curfew, adding, "A lot of murders happen there."
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