CURFEW CUT CRIME WHEN USED, BUT L.A. JUVENILE CRIME STILL UP.

Byline: Deborah Sullivan Staff Writer

Los Angeles' juvenile curfew cuts crime and youth victimization on the nights when police enforce it, according to a Los Angeles Police Department report released Tuesday.

But the LAPD does not enforce the curfew every night, and the city has experienced overall increases in juvenile crime since the program began, the report shows.

The study prepared by the LAPD's Juvenile Services Group tends to suggest a need for wider enforcement of the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew to prevent crime and protect juveniles from becoming crime victims.

``Common sense tells us that for every kid we get off the street, that's one kid we keep from committing or being a victim of crime,'' said Capt. Kirk Albanese, commanding officer of the LAPD Juvenile Division. ``These kids are 14, 15 years old, and they don't belong on the street - something's going to go wrong.''

In the most recent reporting period for which figures are available - from April 12 to Sept. 26 of last year - officers wrote 28 percent more curfew citations than in the previous reporting period, the report states.

Nevertheless, the overall number of teens and children who became victims of violent crime increased 40 percent compared to the previous reporting period.

And, the number of minors involved in violent crimes was about one-third higher than when the curfew program began.

Those findings caused officials to wonder whether spotty enforcement of the curfew has been sufficient in view of the rising trend of juvenile crime in the city.

``When you take a look at the 30 months that the program has been in place - and we do six-month evaluations - the numbers do not point us in any direction,'' Albanese said. ``They don't suggest that our efforts are reducing crime or we're keeping kids from being victims.''

Police Commission Executive Director Joe Gunn noted that on nights that curfew task forces are in effect, the number of minors who become victims of crimes, as well as the number involved in violent crimes, went down slightly compared to the rates on other weekend nights when the task forces aren't operating.

Albanese said that finding demonstrates that curfews, while not a panacea, are useful in preventing kids from getting in trouble or getting hurt.

He said curfew sweeps - in conjunction with crime prevention, intervention and other types of enforcement - can put a lasting dent in the problem.

But Malcolm Klein, a professor emeritus of sociology with the University of Southern California who specializes in crime and juvenile delinquency, said the statistics indicate that the curfew enforcement program produced experimental results that aren't of much value unless imposed on a larger scale.

``You may be able to demonstrate that a special program may have a special effect, short term, but unless you're prepared to expand that program, then what's the point,'' he said.

``You have to put the costs of a program like this against the benefits, and my suspicion is that there are better ways of using that time.''