A permanent version of the youth curfew measure in Washington, D.C., will take effect Thursday night as certain areas in the District grapple with what have been dubbed “teen takeovers.”
The D.C. Council passed the legislation in early May, sending it to Congress for a 30-day review process. Following the congressional review, the bill will institute a long-term curfew for anyone under 18. That includes both residents and tourists.
For July and August, the curfew will run from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. every day. Then, from September through June, curfew hours are the same on Friday and Saturday, but they start at 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday during the school year. In the zones targeted by police, the curfew can start at 8 p.m.
The measure empowers the Metropolitan Police Department chief to establish teen curfew zones to prevent large groups of minors from gathering together at night. Nine young people are the limit for each group.
In the past few weeks, the police department has established designated youth curfew zones in Navy Yard, Chinatown, Southwest Waterfront, and areas surrounding the demolished RFK Stadium.
Temporary curfews have been in place periodically over the past few months. Mayor Muriel Bowser established the short-term emergency measures, which were not taken up by the D.C. Council. Instead of taking action on the temporary curfews, the legislative body waited until the permanent version took effect.
Youth curfews have been a source of contention between the outgoing mayor and the city’s lawmakers this year as unruly youths have taken to the streets in droves.
The debate over youth curfews reached its zenith in mid-May when two groups of juveniles attacked each other in the middle of a Chipotle restaurant in Navy Yard.
The incident garnered the attention of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, who threatened to fine and prosecute parents who let their children take part in rowdy teen takeovers.
Four boys involved in the Chipotle brawl, videos of which quickly spread on social media, have since been arrested and charged. Three of the teenagers were charged with simple assault and affray, and the fourth teen was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly using a chair during the fight. The defendants appeared in D.C. Superior Court on Friday.
BOWSER SIGNS EMERGENCY ORDER REINSTATING TEEN CURFEW UNTIL DC COUNCIL’S BILL GOES INTO EFFECT
In writing an emergency order for police-enforced teen curfews, Bowser cited the violent Navy Yard incident.
“Police were aware that a teen takeover in Navy Yard was advertised and responded quickly to the violence at Chipotle,” the five-page order stated. “But if the Chief of Police had had the power to designate an extended curfew zone, police could have ordered groups of juveniles to disperse before they went to Chipotle.”