A curfew is returned to National Harbor on Friday night — not because things have gotten out of hand, at least compared to last year when the curfew was first instituted — but because police, residents, and business owners there want to make sure it doesn’t escalate to levels seen last year.
Starting at 5 p.m. Friday, anyone who is under 18 will have to be accompanied by an adult at National Harbor on Friday and Saturday nights.
Walking around National Harbor on Friday morning, people who work there and also visit there generally expressed support for the return of the curfew, even though they hadn’t noticed things getting out of control the way things sometimes did last year.
“I don’t want to take away from the youth coming here, but when after hours, you’re up to no good, no,” Cathy Peters, of Clinton, said.
“People live here. People come here with their families. They don’t need to have some drama going on while they’re here enjoying themselves,” Kason Bibbins said.
Bibbins, who works at National Harbor, said he was in agreement of the curfew after noticing its impact last year.
“It’s definitely good for them to be a little bit supervised,” Bibbins said. “Especially when it gets into later night times because most of the stuff around here is more adult, more than kids, when it gets to nighttime activities.”
Prince George’s County police Chief Malik Aziz said the curfew came at the request of the residents and businesses at National Harbor, as allowed under the law passed by the county council last year.
“They looked and said, ‘It’s time to implement it again,'” Aziz said. “Just to make sure that it’s safe for the residents who live there, who work there, to the place where many visitors come to be entertained.”
Police said they’re taking a proactive approach in patrolling so that the melees and rowdiness that have had a negative impact on the area last year aren’t repeated. And he reminded parents it’s on them to make sure their kids aren’t running around unsupervised.
“Take some accountability in it. Know where your children are, know what they’re doing,” Aziz said.
He said the goal isn’t to start issuing tickets and fines or even take kids into custody, but that everyone would have to cooperate to make sure that doesn’t happen going forward.
“We are supportive partners of anything that makes our county positive and vibrant,” Aziz said.
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