Mayor Muriel Bowser has put a new youth curfew in place, starting Friday, under an emergency order as D.C. continues to wrestle over strategies to respond to so-called teen takeovers.
Heading into Memorial Day weekend, young people in D.C. are barred from gathering in large groups after 8 p.m. The curfew lasts through June 6.
The rules apply to groups of nine or more, and kids who are 17 years old or younger.
Bowser declared a public emergency to clear the way for the D.C. police chief to create curfew zones in certain zones and to impose earlier curfews on weekends.
There’s been some debate in D.C. over whether the curfews are an effective tool to curb youth gatherings in the long term.
An emergency order on curfews expired on May 1 as council members deliberated a measure to make curfews permanent.
The D.C. Council ultimately pulled the emergency legislation and passed the permanent curfew on May 5. Laws in D.C. require congressional review, so the nighttime restrictions likely won’t go into effect until late summer.
Bowser has been critical of the council’s actions, arguing in favor of emergency legislation to allow for curfews immediately to rein in gatherings of youth that have turned violent in recent weeks.
While declaring the emergency order, the mayor’s office pointed to a brawl inside a restaurant last weekend when the chief didn’t have the authority to create a curfew zone.
Video shows teens fought inside of a Chipotle in Navy Yard, tossing chairs as customers tried to take cover. Police are working alongside the FBI to identify four people who were reportedly involved.
Before the restaurant brawl, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced last week she would prosecute parents whose children participate in the teen takeovers.
Even without Bowser’s emergency order, there’s a citywide curfew in place from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and midnight to 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
That citywide curfew only applies to those who are under the age of 17 — while the emergency order extends to 17-year-olds.
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