A Curfew In Greenville, Miss., Is Working to Curb Violent Crime

It was after 2 a.m. when the police chief called the mayor to report another night of violence in Greenville, Miss. This time, one of the city’s former high school football stars was fatally shot while visiting his hometown.

News of the death on May 28 of 18-year-old Alex Foster, a redshirt freshman on the Baylor University football team, ricocheted across the small Mississippi Delta city, and it was not the only case of violence in recent months. Days earlier, a 16-year-old boy was killed in a drive-by shooting while in the back seat of a family member’s car stopped at an intersection. Weeks before that, stray bullets struck the windows of a school building, forcing a short lockdown.

To Errick D. Simmons, the three-term mayor of Greenville, and Marcus R. Turner Sr., the police chief, this spasm of violence had plunged the city into crisis. Crime rates had spiked since January, a “surge” mostly related to gang activity and retaliations among minors and young adults.

“Violence was ripping through our neighborhoods. Our people didn’t feel safe sitting on the porch or being outside after dark,” said Mr. Simmons, 48. “My thought was enough is enough.”

The gun violence has not been isolated to Greenville. Over the weekend, at least six people were killed and others injured by gunfire at a high school homecoming celebration in Leland, Miss., a town of fewer than 4,000 people, about eight miles from Greenville. Two other shootings took place in Heidelberg and Rolling Fork. And, at least one person was killed and three others were wounded in two separate attacks at Mississippi universities.

The country has been enveloped in a fiercely partisan debate over how to address crime. The Trump administration has deployed National Guard troops to American cities, in part to address what the president calls rampant levels of violent crime, which local officials fiercely dispute. But in the Delta, the leaders of Greenville are trying to address gun violence with their own tough measures — one that also asks how far a city should go to fight crime.

This curfew has been welcomed by wary residents, if not by business owners. And more than four months after the curfew was imposed, the crime rate has tumbled.

The City Council will soon determine how long the curfew stays in place. By statute, it must be reviewed at least every 30 days, and any permanent measures must be enacted through an ordinance.

“We know this curfew cannot last forever. I think the discussion now is going to be, how do we keep the crime levels down?” Mr. Simmons said. “One measure that helps indirectly is to consider an ordinance that restricts the business hours of nightclubs and late-night establishments.”

Chief Turner, 47, who has led the police force since 2021, said the community has mostly complied with the curfew, but there are critics. Owners of nightclubs and bars complained that the shorter operating hours were costing them business. Adults and teenagers said it was too restrictive. And some adults went further, saying the curfew infringed on their autonomy and rights to move freely.

One test of the curfew was a recent Greenville High School homecoming football game, a vibrant annual celebration that attracted a large crowd of students, parents and alumni. But after 10 p.m., some students were still outside, some waiting for their parents. Mr. Turner said that reminded him the success of curfews depends on the whole community buying in.

Originally, the curfew was 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. for people under 21 and 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. for those 21 and older. In September, the start times were changed to one hour later to accommodate night football games and late-night businesses.

During curfew hours, minors are prohibited from being in public spaces unsupervised. Penalties for violators range from $500 to $1,000, with possible jail time for some. So far, the police have issued nine $500 citations. Among those, four were issued to parents whose children were out past curfew. The children were released to the parents.

“For a while there, it felt like there were shootings every other week. Now, you don’t hear the gunfire and all that racing up and down the streets,” said Brenda Brown, 61, a school cafeteria worker. “We needed a curfew to get things in control. The whole community needs to step up.”

Violent crime has been a stubborn issue in Greenville, but city officials described a “flare-up” starting in January: a series of drive-bys, shootouts, homicides, auto thefts and bursts of gunfire.

Curfews have long been used by municipalities and law enforcement across the country as a tool to deter youth crimes, though some criminal justice experts say they are largely ineffective. In Greenville, an ordinance was already in place setting parameters around when minors could be in public spaces. The new curfew was stricter.

Marc Levin, chief policy counsel at the Council on Criminal Justice, said what makes the curfew stand out is that it applies to adults and the length of time it has been in effect. He added that an “indefinite” term would be constitutionally questionable.

In general, experts say smaller communities are fighting triple forces: crime, tight budgets and understaffing. “While big cities attract the most attention when it comes to crime, small cities have their own challenges, including in many cases fewer resources to fund vital public safety infrastructure from police to courts,” Mr. Levin said in a statement.

Mayor Simmons said by declaring a state of emergency, the city could impose protective measures including curfews during disasters, a civil disorder or a public safety crisis. He said the city has also turned to other crime-reduction strategies including Flock Safety, a surveillance system that uses artificial intelligence to read license plates and detect gunshots.

According to police records, before the curfew — the first five months of 2025 — there were 11 homicides compared with two during the four months since the curfew has been in place. (There were 21 homicides in all of 2024). The department logged 113 stolen autos before the curfew and 30 after the curfew. And shots fired — one of the largest complaints among neighbors — decreased to 190 from 408.

Greenville, perched along the Mississippi River, is about 150 miles south of Memphis and is known for its Blues music roots and hot tamales. The majority-Black city covers about 27 square miles, with a population about 28,000. Like other small towns and cities, Greenville has lost jobs and people over the decades. The poverty rate is about 32 percent.

But in recent years, new businesses have opened as part of the historic downtown’s redevelopment, replacing some boarded-up buildings with restaurants and shops. A modern federal courthouse is set to open later this year. A $1.2 billion power station is under construction, along with a planned $1.4 billion natural gas pipeline project originating near Greenville.

On a recent weekend, Angela Crooms recalled the kind of terrifying real-life experience behind the crime statistics. In April, Ms. Crooms, 57, was in her living room watching the news when she heard gunfire.

“I looked out the glass door and saw a guy shooting toward a car in the middle of the street,” she said. “My husband ran in the house to check on me and found a bullet hole in the wall behind me. It could have killed me.”

In the hours after learning about the shooting of Mr. Foster, the 18-year-old whose killing, in part, led to the curfew, Mr. Simmons, a Democrat, called a special council meeting. Minutes into the meeting, Mr. Simmons became visibly frustrated. He pleaded for help from parents.

He urged “every parent, every meemaw, every grandma, everybody” to look for guns in their houses. “Don’t do it when your baby gets hit. Go look for them right now and if you find them, call 911,” he said.

“The curfew really hurt our business,” he said. “I would say about 40 percent.”

Mr. Weiss acknowledged that the extended curfew has helped. But still, he said most adults are law-abiding, and the community is being punished for a small group of troublemakers.

“A whole city should not be held hostage by juveniles,” Mr. Weiss said. “I am 64 years old, I have the right to go to a store when I feel like it. I have a right to freedom of movement.”

Sheelagh McNeill contributed research.