Ald. Brian Hopkins to introduce revised teen curfew proposal for downtown Chicago
There's a renewed push for a curfew in downtown Chicago following a deadly mass shooting less than two weeks ago in the Loop.
Mayor Brandon Johnson vetoed a similar plan earlier this year, but there are some changes in curfew that other aldermen want to see in the revised proposal.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) said the revised curfew proposal is still being drafted and could be completed by the end of the week. He said the new draft will come with some compromises from the version that was vetoed by Johnson last summer.
Before the Christmas tree lights turned on in Millennium Park, social media lit up days prior with videos of teens saying they planned on coming downtown that night.
"Let's gather, get a whole bunch of people, and have a good time. This is our city, we should be able to go wherever we like," said Vondale Singleton, founder and CEO of Champs Mentoring Program.
Singleton said without structure in place for large teen gatherings, things can go wrong, and oftentimes, they do.
"I think we are missing the point," he said. "It's not about the curfew, it's about the investment."
On the night of Friday, Nov. 21, they did go wrong.
Nine people were shot, including a 14-year-old boy, who was killed during a large youth meetup. The shooting happened after the tree lighting and just minutes before Chicago's 10 p.m. teen curfew.
Hopkins said he will introduce a new curfew ordinance that could be used as needed and on short notice.
A similar proposal that gave police the power to enforce the snap curfew was passed by the city council but vetoed by Johnson last summer. Johnson strongly opposed the 30-minute heads-up in that legislation.
"We need adult parents to absolutely know where their children are, where they're going. These unsanctioned gatherings have proven to be detrimental and harmful," Johnson said.
Johnson said he has not seen the updated proposal from Hopkins and didn't say whether or not he would support a snap curfew.
"Look, every time something like this happens, of course, it frustrates me, because it does set our city back. I have worked incredibly hard to drive violence down in this city," Johnson said.
While Ald. Hopkins said details of the curfew proposal are still being hammered out, the length of the notice before the curfew goes into effect will be longer than 30 minutes, but he didn't specify how long it would be.