The D.C. Council on Tuesday will vote on whether to extend the emergency juvenile curfew set to expire in mid-April — a temporary fix that Mayor Muriel Bowser wants to be made permanent after unruly teenagers launched another takeover in the Navy Yard this month.
Nine council members need to back the emergency curfew to secure its passage during Tuesday’s legislative meeting. The current curfew ends April 15. If passed, the curfew would remain in effect until Sept. 25.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, a Democrat, said he believes there is enough support for the measure, despite some of his fellow lawmakers voicing their opposition.
Democratic Council members Robert White, Zachary Parker and Brianne Nadeau have spoken out against the curfew, but could vote for it Tuesday.
But chaotic scenes, such as the 200-teen romp in the Navy Yard on March 14 that led to robberies, assaults and a fired gun, have made continuing the curfew more pressing.
Ms. Bowser, a Democrat, said the council needs to make the curfew a mainstay of the District’s public safety apparatus as soon as possible.
“I think the council should stop playing games with this. This is a tool that we need,” Ms. Bowser said Monday. “We’re going to keep coming back every 90 days, and you’re going to keep asking me the same question. We need it. We’re going to come back 90 days from now. Stop playing games and move to permanent.
Metropolitan Police set up juvenile curfew zones in Chinatown, the Wharf, U Street Corridor and Navy Yard following the March 14 incident.
Large gatherings of youths are not allowed in the zones after 8 p.m., police said.
Juveniles caught inside the curfew zones or who are out late at night are usually ordered to go home, police said.
Those who refuse are taken to the Department of Youth and Rehabilitative Services, the city’s juvenile jail, where they are held until a parent or guardian can come pick them up.
