• ACLU chapters in Illinois and Milwaukee say that new curfews imposed for minors will disproportionately affect people of color.
• “The fear is that people of color would likely bear the brunt of selective and biased enforcement of curfews,” the ACLU of Wisconsin told Insider.
• Both cities are imposing curfews to attempt to combat crime the mayors say often includes minors in the cities. 

Chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union in Illinois and Wisconsin said new curfews set for minors in Chicago and Milwaukee could disproportionately affect people of color.

“Curfews, by and large, allow law enforcement too much discretion over who they choose to arrest,” the ACLU of Wisconsin told Insider. “As we’ve seen time and time again, police disproportionately target Black and Brown people, and the fear is that people of color would likely bear the brunt of selective and biased enforcement of curfews.”

“Curfews also may escalate tensions between police and homeless Milwaukee residents, who don’t have a choice but to be on the streets,” the statement said. 

The ACLU in Illinois echoed that sentiment in its statement, saying “that curfews do not reduce crime.”

“This approach doesn’t solve a problem – it further damages relations between young people and the community,” The ACLU in Illinois said.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot instituted a curfew in Chicago earlier this week after a teenager was killed in a shooting at Millennium Park, according to a statement shared on Twitter by Ryan Johnson, Lightfoot’s deputy director of communications.

The executive order bars unaccompanied minors aged 12 and older from being in public spaces in Chicago from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time, ABC7 reported. 

“We, as a City, can not allow any of our public spaces to become platforms for danger,” Lightfoot said in her statement. “Anyone coming into our public spaces should expect to enjoy them peacefully and must respect and exhibit basic community norms of decency.”

In Milwaukee, minors under the age of 17 are required to be indoors or escorted by an adult by 10 p.m. local time on weeknights and 11 p.m. local time on weekends, according to a local ordinance. The curfew ends at 5 a.m. local time seven days a week.  

Local media site Urban Milwaukee reported that officials said they would enforce the ordinance after three Friday night shootings in the city in which 21 people were injured, including a 15-year-old.

Mayor Cavalier Johnson said officials would enforce the curfew across the city, Urban Milwaukee reported.

Police have arrested 11 people in connection to Friday’s shootings, including one 19-year-old and four others under 21 years old, Urban Milwaukee reported.

“This behavior is not going to be tolerated not only Downtown but nowhere in the city. Period,” Milwaukee police chief Jeffrey Norman said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, according to Urban Milwaukee. “We had a number of young ones or juveniles who were unfortunately harmed in this.”