Chicago City Council rejects ordinance to penalize parents for teen takeovers

The City Council on Wednesday voted down the latest bid by Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th) to hold parents responsible for teen takeovers and youth violence in Chicago.

Lopez first introduced the Parental Accountability Ordinance in 2023, but it stalled for years. This past March, the City Council Public Safety Committee voted down the proposal, which would have imposed fines on parents accused of allowing their children to commit crimes such as curfew violations, illegal drag racing, jumping on vehicles, or drug or alcohol use.

On Wednesday, Lopez sought to use a parliamentary maneuver to ignore the Public Safety Committee's vote, and reintroduce the measure with tweaks that include much stiffer penalties. His attempt was defeated, with only 16 alders backing his proposal, and 32 voting to reject it.

Lopez said, "We must take action now." He is worried that teen takeovers — like one at 88th and Loomis streets a week ago Saturday, and another in Hyde Park on Memorial Day night that led to three teens being shot and wounded — will become the norm, not the exception.

City leaders and police have struggled to keep large gatherings of minors in check this summer and in past years. Some street parties end with kids being killed.

The new version of the Parental Accountability Ordinance would:

• Require up to 75 hours of community service for a child who breaks curfew rules, or hit that minor's caregiver with a $1,000 fine — up from a $5,000 fine.
• Impose a possible $10,000 penalty on the parents of anyone under 18 who flips a vehicle.
• Also impose a $10,000 fine for parents of kids who climb on, jump on, or cling to other people's cars.

"Once parents know that they're going to be responsible, they are going to immediately start cracking down on their households and making sure they know where their children are every single day," Lopez said. "I think it's going to be a very telling moment, because we always see the politicians stand up after these events and say, 'We should do something.' Now the question is, will they do something now that it's in front of them?"

The question of penalizing parents for teens' activity came up right away at the start of the City Council meeting on Wednesday, when at least three people made public comments voicing their opposition to the measure.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was also asked about the idea at a press briefing on Tuesday, and voiced disapproval.

"We know what criminalization does particularly for more vulnerable communities," the mayor said. "It has not led to creating safer spaces. We have to do what works."

What works in the mayor's eyes is investing in kids by giving them opportunities. Mayor Johnson did say "people" who break the law should be held accountable.

Lopez said he expected such talk of spaces and opportunities for teens to come up at the City Council meeting Wednesday morning. He said such discussions fail to deal with the problem at hand.

"I think what we're going to see, to be perfectly honest with you, is we're going to see a lot of gaslighting," Lopez said. "They're going to say: 'We need to focus on root causes. We need more money for programs.' And what they are doing is deflecting, because they don't want to deal with the reality that is directly in front of us in the here and now."

Lopez said he is not trying to criminalize kids, but rather to deter them, and he said he believed the ordinance would have served as a wake-up call for parents to pay attention to what their children are doing.