Baltimore takes steps to curb youth violence with summer events

BALTIMORE — There's been a lot of events in the city this weekend, but some had the specific purpose to keep youth out of trouble.

Baltimore's Youth Engagement Strategy is in full swing, city leaders have kept their promise to keep kids engaged and away from trouble.

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• Baltimore's Safe Summer Program kicks off amid launch of youth curfew policy
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Part of that strategy is enforcing an updated curfew policy that went into effect this past Friday.

Rash Field in Inner Harbor became one of the city's biggest dance floors Sunday. Autumn Foote was one of the kids who took advantage.

It was part of the city's first B'More Lit for the year, B'More This Summer.

Foote, who loves to dance, said she and her mom didn't even know it was happening until they heard the music from a park nearby.

She's happy they found it.

"There's a lot of things for kids to do and some stuf for the grown ups to do, too," Foote said.

The event also featured video games, free food, also some direct access to resources. Some police officers were on-hand for families to meet.

It's not the city's first time putting on B'More Lit events, but they just wanted to boost it this year in light of the problem with youth violence.

Mayor Brandon Scott also made an appearance at the event. WJZ asked him about the curfew and he said there haven't been any issues yet.

The curfew, which went into effect on Friday, bars youth under the age of 14 from staying out past 9 p.m. 14-to-16-year-olds can stay out until 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends.

"Hearing the stories even from police officers telling me about last night, how the workers came out," Scott said. "[Officers] saw [youth connection center workers] talking to the young people and the young people started to disperse. We know it's going to be a long summer, we're going to keep engaging, but so far, all signs have been positive."

Many families hoping all these efforts lead to a smooth summer.

"We've had some issues in our neighborhood, so yes, if we can keep the youth occupied with positive reinforcement, we are all for that," Selena Lewis said.

For a list of summer events for youth, you can check out the list from Mayor's Office of Children & Family Success, or the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement.