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Councilmember Brooke Pinto
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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To declare the existence of an emergency with respect to the need to amend the Juvenile Curfew 1
Act of 1995 to authorize the Mayor to extend the juvenile curfew hours in the District 2
when appropriate to protect public safety or public or private property, to authorize the 3
Chief of Police to establish extended juvenile curfew hour zones in specified 4
circumstances and to extend the applicability of the juvenile curfew to 17-year olds. 5
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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 8
resolution may be cited as the “Juvenile Curfew Congressional Review Emergency Declaration 9
Resolution of 2025”. 10
Sec. 2. (a) The Juvenile Curfew Act of 1995, effective September 20, 1995 (D.C. Law 11
11-48; D.C. Official Code § 2-1541 et seq.) (“Juvenile Curfew Act”), was enacted for the 12
protection of minors to prevent violence and crime in the interest of public health, safety, and 13
general welfare. 14
(b) The Juvenile Curfew Act has subsequently been amended multiple times to extend the 15
curfew period in the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2002, effective July 23, 16
2002 (D.C. Act 14-453; 49 Stat. 8026), and the Enhanced Crime Prevention and Abatement 17
Emergency Amendment Act of 2006, effective July 21, 2006 (D.C. Act 16-446; 53 DCR 6477). 18
(c) Since 2023, the District has seen a rise in concerning behavior by some 19
unaccompanied youth. Already this spring, the District has had several instances of large groups 20
of youth engaging in harmful, and often times criminal, conduct in multiple areas around the 21
city, including the Wharf, Navy Yard, and U Street. Multiple fights have broken out and 22
robberies, assaults, and shootings have occurred. While MPD has used various methods to 23
address this conduct, including enhanced enforcement of the disturbance of the peace offenses, 24
working with local businesses on signage related to trespassing by unaccompanied minors, and 25
requests for a restricted curfew in the Wharf, the tools available are limited. After seeing the 26
success of the temporary juvenile curfew zones throughout the summer months when incidents 27
of violence tend to tick upward, the District is seeking continued flexibility in our juvenile 28
curfew to allow MPD to ensure the safety of both young people and the public in order to more 29
nimbly address significant safety concerns. Over the summer, during which several Juvenile 30
Curfew Zones were declared, MPD reports that the zones successfully kept groups of youth from 31
gathering in those specific zones during the extended times and MPD found zero curfew 32
violations during the extended hours from 8pm-11pm. 33
(d) Therefore, emergency legislation is needed to continue maintaining the safety of 34
young people and the public in the District. 35
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia determines that the circumstances in 36
section 2 constitute emergency circumstances making it necessary that the Juvenile Curfew 37
Second Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 be adopted after a single reading. 38
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately. 39