The D.C. Council approved a bill that would establish a permanent juvenile curfew, but delayed a vote on an emergency order to keep the enhanced curfew authority in place through the spring and summer.
The council supported the permanent juvenile curfew in an 8-5 vote Tuesday.
Under the proposal, police could set up specialized “curfew zones” to prevent youths from swarming popular parts of town in what are known as “teen takeovers.”
Large groups of minors who are caught in the designated zones — such as in the Wharf, Chinatown and the U Street Corridor — will be ordered to disperse. Youths who don’t leave could be detained and held at the city’s juvenile jail until a parent picks them up.
But the permanent curfew needs a second council vote, expected on May 5, and congressional approval before it can take effect.
That means D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s emergency curfew will expire next week and put the District at risk of teen takeovers, such as the one at the Navy Yard just last month.
