A new youth curfew took effect  in one of the highest ranking cities for violent crime, Baltimore, on Friday night, requiring unaccompanied youths under the age of 14 to return home by 9 p.m., Reuters reports.  It also requires that all 14, 15 and 16-year-olds be indoors by 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends and during the summer.

According to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blakes, the enacted curfew will help kids stay out of harms way in a city that struggles with high crime rates.  The city’s lively night light, one that some parents and many police can agree is no place place for young adults, can be dangerous . In 2012 alone, FBI data revealed 218 homicides were committed.

Youths found on the streets after curfew will be picked up and escorted by the police to one of the two recreational centers set up by the city, where they will wait for their parents or guardians to arrive.

One woman, who arrived to pick up her collected 11-year-old grandson at a recreational center, told Reuters, “I think it’s good,..the kids shouldn’t be out on the streets when it gets dark.”

Others are split on the matter, like single mother of five,  Kim Johnson, who works the night shift doing custodial work.

“What if the baby gets sick in the middle of the night and my 16-year-old needs to go to the store to get something?” said Johnson, 34.

Johnson isn’t alone, Civil liberties groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, state the rules are too vague, which could lead to inevitable negative interactions between police and children.

Other concerns included worry over police reactions’ to youths without identifications, or ones that attempt to flee, with others claiming  hefty fines up to $500 to families of  curfew breakers were an issue.