As the D.C. Council gets ready to vote Tuesday on a plan to reinstate a summer emergency bill that allows for daily curfews for kids under 18, some city residents are weighing in.
The proposal would allow for curfews to start as early as 8 p.m. in targeted zones. The curfew can last up to four days and be extended to 30 days, with additional orders from the mayor.
If passed, the emergency bill would remain in effect for 90 days and give the police chief authority to set curfew zones without waiting for Mayor Muriel Bowser’s order.
One of the areas that’s been targeted for curfews is the U Street Corridor.
Bob, a D.C. resident who lives on Vermont Avenue, said, “I just don’t see the curfew doing anything. I think kids are more inclined to want to break it.”
But not all are in favor of it.
A group of teens, who said they were all 17, chimed in on the curfew plan. YBGE, 17, said he and his friends just want to have fun.
“Come on, it’s fun over here at night. It’s the only time we can actually take good pictures,” YBGE said, adding that he’s not excited about the proposed curfew plan.
“I do not appreciate the curfew here, like if you all going to implement that,” he said.
Eman, 17, agreed, saying, “I think the curfew is kind of crazy. As a kid, you want to explore, you want to go out.”
Another teen part of the group, Duke, 17, also thinks the curfew plan is unfair.
“I feel like this curfew it’s should be abolished because all of us, we’re all 17 and you know we’re trying to have a good time,” Duke said.
The curfew would follow the same structure that the city saw over the summer, a structure Bowser and Police Chief Pamela Smith said worked.
This comes as a result of recent disorderly conduct by juveniles around the District since the emergency bill ended on Oct. 5.
On Friday, Oct. 31, hundreds of teens swarmed Navy Yard as they blocked an area around M and 1st streets, leading to fights and arrests. As a result, Bowser imposed a limited juvenile curfew on Saturday, Nov. 1, in response to a teen melee.
D.C. police said they stopped 18 curfew violators on the first night of the mayor’s curfew. Some D.C. leaders want to keep the emergency curfews in place.
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