Chicago City Council committee delays vote on new teen curfew proposal
A Chicago City Council committee delayed a planned vote Wednesday on a new, much-debated curfew ordinance for teens in the city.
The Public Safety Committee spent several hours discussing a proposal by Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) to allow Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to activate snap curfews with at least 30 minutes' notice in order to curb teen takeovers. The goal would be to impose targeted curfews in specific areas when mass gatherings are expected or underway, and there is reason to believe they could result in criminal activity or otherwise pose a risk to public safety.
Those violating the snap curfew would have 30 minutes to clear out or be picked up by a parent or guardian, or they could be fined $250 and face required community service.
With Chicago Police Chief of Patrol John Hein seated next to Hopkins addressing questions, downtown aldermen such as Brendan Reilly (42nd) said Chicago Police are asking for the curfew proposal as a tool that would help them police teen takeovers.
"We don't have the luxury, and certainly not the taxpayer resources, to deploy hundreds of cops in the evening to frankly babysit other people's children," Reilly said. "Where are the parents?"
Civil rights lawyers have warned that the proposal is unconstitutional because the reasons for imposing targeted curfews are too vague, and the measure would invite costly lawsuits. Hopkins and the ordinance's supporters disagree, but co-sponsors Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) and Jason Ervin (28th) – who chair the influential Finance Committee and Budget Committee, respectively – said they wanted to give more time for critics of the measure to review the latest version of the ordinance before any vote.
Hopkins agreed to recess Wednesday's meeting in hopes of bringing alders back to hear from groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union and other civil rights advocates before voting on the ordinance in May.
"This is a collaborative effort. I had my two co-sponsors with me today, who are not members of this committee, but participated fully – Ald. Ervin and Ald. Dowell – and at their request, the discussion was running long, and we needed to take a pause in this meeting, and come back, which we will sooner rather than later. So I'm expecting sometime next week," Hopkins said after Wednesday's meeting. "We will have a vote on this matter, and my anticipation is right now, there's enough votes to pass this matter out of committee."
This was not the first time Hopkins has put off a plan to vote on his proposal to expand CPD's curfew powers.
Hopkins had planned to force a vote earlier in April on a proposal to move the curfew for teens in the downtown area from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m., despite opposition from Mayor Brandon Johnson.
He changed course just hours before a council meeting, informing his colleagues that he might have found a middle ground with the mayor and Chicago Police Department in the form of the snap curfews. His original plan for snap curfews would have allowed district commanders to impose targeted curfews, but he has since revised the plan to allow only Snelling to order such curfews, with the consent of Johnson's deputy mayor for community safety.
The new ordinance would allow Snelling to activate earlier curfews in real time as situations change. Any such snap curfew would expire after three hours unless the superintendent and deputy mayor agree there is a need to extend it.
Ald. Bill Conway (34th), a former prosecutor, has said police would have to show probable cause that a targeted curfew is needed for public safety.
If passed, it would be usable citywide, but critics are concerned it could be misused.
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) argued such targeted curfews "could potentially lead to profiling and lead to limitations of people just exercising their freedoms of speech."
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) also cast doubt upon the plan.
"It doesn't seem to make a dent in the issue, and it keeps getting worse," Sigcho-Lopez said.
ACLU of Illinois spokesman Ed Yohnka said the organization remains opposed to the ordinance, writing in a statement, "Curfews are not an effective law enforcement tool, and have never been shown to enhance public safety. The substitute continues to provide an inadequate amount of due process to people who would likely be subject to enforcement. That is, a young person might be in a store, a coffee shop or a movie when the curfew is called in 30 minutes, but then be subjected to it when they leave – never knowing there is a curfew in effect."
If the committee passes the ordinance, it would still have to go to the full council to be approved.
Advocate for teen programs suggests a different approach
Jahmal Cole runs events for kids under his nonprofit My Block, My Hood, My City. His group offers a different approach to preventing teen takeovers.
Cole said it is important to get ahead of the problem — focusing on prevention to give kids options instead of reaction or intervention. He said it is not the mere presence of teens that poses a problem, because his organization has successfully organized large events.
"It's called Downtown Day. It's meant to be a holiday," said Cole, "but it's where we give over 1,000 youth $50 to do everything they have always wanted to do downtown. They just didn't have the money to do it."
Cole's My Block, My Hood, My City has held two Downtown Days — with another in the works.
"Last year, 1,800 kids came downtown, and we had no incidents," said Cole. "There were no incidents."
Ald. Hopkins told CBS News Chicago said he supports outreach and outlets for teens alongside the curfew proposal.
"Whether it's a basketball league, whether it's a Park District program — whatever it is, I say yes to that. We can do that," said Hopkins, "and now it's their turn to say a law-enforcement tool that the police tell us they need.
Cole warned using police to break up teen get-togethers could cause longstanding distrust.
"It sends a dehumanizing message that your presence as a threat that needs to be monitored and controlled," Cole said, "and believe it or not that affects the way that youth think of themselves and their rights in the city."
Hopkins pointed out two people were shot in two different teen takeover incidents in Streeterville in March.
On March 9, a 46-year-old woman and her son were caught up in a teen takeover near the AMC River East movie theater when the woman, a tourist, was shot in the arm.
On March 28, a 15-year-old boy suffered a gunshot graze wound to the leg during a teen takeover in the same area, near Columbus Drive and Illinois Street. A 14-year-old boy has since been charged with shooting the 15-year-old.
"The police have to enforce the law," Hopkins said, "especially when there's violence involved, there is criminality, and there's a threat not only to the residents of the neighborhood where these team takeovers happen, but to the teens themselves."
Cole said My Block, My Hood, My City is organizing another Downtown Day for July 19 — with more than a thousand kids expected.
