New City Policy Punishing Parents is Misguided
In recent weeks, top city officials have rolled out a new policy that is intended to increase public safety in St. Louis: criminalizing the parents of youth who commit crimes. Initially announced for the 4th of July holiday, this new policy is now being considered for expansion to other holidays and public events. It is all in keeping with the new “tough on crime” image that Mayor Spencer and city public safety officials have leaned into. Given that St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) data shows the city continuing to see decreasing year-over-year violent crime numbers, this change hasn’t come as the result of any kind of crisis. Instead, the considerations seem to be primarily political.
There is a certain logic to the proposal. It assumes that children are breaking the law, due to parental irresponsibility. In this version of things, the parents should have been there to watch over the youths and prevent them from going out to large, public events. It is a policy based on the worldview that bears little resemblance to real life. It imagines that irresponsible parents are waving bye to their kids as they head out to cause chaos. In reality, many parents have to work evenings and overnights. They may not have a spouse or other adult who can be in the home, watching their children all night. This is not necessarily the fault of the parent. Also, if that same parent wasn’t employed, the household would likely be in even more dire straits. The assumption that this policy is centered around – that parents of these children are themselves being irresponsible – only makes sense when giving little thought to the real world. In reality, parents fulfilling their households’ very real financial responsibilities is often the cause of their absence.
It is certainly true that many underpaid single parents working in the foodservice and healthcare industries would love to have a 9-to-5 job that offered many paid holidays. This would allow them to be present and watch over their kids in the evening hours. Unfortunately, that’s simply not the reality faced by many single-parent households. Pretending otherwise won’t change that fact.
What would then be the result of punishing these parents? According to city code, the charges are likely to result in either a $500 fine or up to 90 days in jail. While $500 might not sound like a lot of money to many of the people who support this policy, recent surveys show as many as 63% of workers would have difficulty paying an unexpected $500 expense. That would make it difficult for many to pay the fine, thus avoiding jail time. That means some of these struggling parents are likely to get in further trouble. Any jail time for the parent would likely mean the loss of the household’s income and housing. This would not increase the likelihood that the child will stay out of trouble with the law. If anything, the opposite would be more likely.
These and other considerations came to mind, when the city announced the new policy. That said, city officials do not seem to countenance the possibility that this policy could backfire on the city’s public safety. Most media coverage has also refused to consider possible negative outcomes from pursuing this policy. Instead, the only potential downside considered in most reporting is that it simply won’t work. These concerns about efficacy are warranted, as we’re not the first city or state to try this kind of policy, and it hasn’t worked in the past.
We reached out to Arch City Defenders to get their view. “The plan to use this ordinance to criminalize simply by being the ‘parent’ of a teenager who allegedly did something wrong is rife with due process problems. This is an old idea that didn’t work then and won’t work now: California tried it in the early 90’s with a ‘gang mom’ statute. At a time of ever-decreasing resources for schools and families, why don’t we try prioritizing meaningful opportunities for teens rather than criminalizing their parents?” responded Arch City Defenders’ Managing Attorney Maureen Hanlon over email.
She raises a great question. The city continues to sit on millions in Rams settlement money, and we would likely see improved public safety outcomes from investing more directly in the city’s children and their futures. Instead of introducing new measures that will punish parents for providing for their families, Mayor Spencer could propose new opportunities and programs to engage the city’s youth in more constructive activities. If the current administration is serious about continuing the trend of decreasing crime numbers, it should expand public investment focused on the city’s youth. This is especially true in those areas with limited entertainment and recreation opportunities. If the goal is creating a city where kids aren’t “up to no good”, giving those errant children the chance to see themselves as part of a brighter future would probably work better than filing citations against their parents.
