Does the Springfield curfew curb crime?

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A new settlement with the city allows three Springfield strip clubs to stay open until 2AM. Several clubs sued the city in federal court after Mayor Sarno imposed a 1AM curfew last April.

The Springfield Police Department said it saw a 35 percent drop in downtown calls after the earlier closing policy was put in place. But some argue people will still find trouble regardless of what the clock reads.

The show will go on at Mardi Gras, Center Stage, and Xstatic until 2AM, after the clubs took the city to court over their new curfew and won. But did closing the doors at 1AM make the city safer?

During a six month period last year Springfield police received around 1200 calls for service between midnight and 3am from the downtown area. But during that same time frame this year since the regulations went into effect, the number of calls decreased to around 800.

“Well if they had what is it 30 percent less calls now than they had? There must be a reason for that. I think it's probably worthwhile to close them all down by 1 o'clock. Absolutely, yeah. As a citizen as a taxpayer yeah I'm in favor of all that stuff,” said Tom Mitchell of Springfield.

But others who spend time downtown say no matter what time the drinks and music stop, people will still make noise, traffic and bad decisions.

“I think it doesn't really make any difference because people are going to keep drinking afterwards whether its after parties. People are still going to drink and drive regardless,” said Christian Vargas of Springfield.

“Yeah leave it open, why not? People are going to have fun. I don't think shutting down a place is going to make people go home. They're going to stay out whether or not they want to stay out,” said Lydia Pacheco of Springfield.

The clubs will have to follow some guidelines, like you can only stay until 2 if you're in there by 1, and the clubs will have to pay for additional police detail.