(The Center Square) – Chicago aldermen have approved a curfew ordinance aimed at preventing violent teen gatherings, but the city’s mayor said he’ll veto it.
The city council passed a measure Wednesday allowing the Chicago police superintendent to impose temporary curfews anywhere in the city.
Alderman Brian Hopkins worked on various proposals after two people were injured in shootings during downtown street takeovers in March.
“We are all 100% on the same page when I say that we’ve seen the videos of the events that inspired this ordinance, and no one here is OK with that. No one here thinks it’s perfectly acceptable for large groups of teenagers, some as young as 12, to gather anywhere in the city, downtown or anywhere, and get out of control and to take guns out of their backpacks and to engage in violent behavior,” Hopkins said.
After Wednesday’s council meeting, Mayor Brandon Johnson said he would veto the curfew ordinance because it was “counterproductive.”
“It would create tensions between residents and law enforcement at a time when we have worked so hard to rebuild that trust. We have made significant progress in our compliance with the consent decree and now is not the time to introduce new measures that could undermine those hard-fought gains,” Johnson said.
The mayor said his policies are more effective at reducing violence than proposals to give police more tools.
“I’m actually doing the work that works, right, so it’s also providing opportunities for our young people. Expanding youth employment at a time when people are looking for purpose, that does make a difference,” Johnson said.
The mayor ended the city’s use of gunshot-detection technology last year.
Several aldermen reported large gatherings of young people in their wards over the course of the last two weeks. Five arrests were reported Tuesday night as a large crowd gathered near North Avenue Beach on Chicago’s North Side.
Hopkins said curfews work.
“I’ve been on the street during these teen trends when they turn violent and I was out there with the deputy mayor at the last one, and it wasn’t until ten o’clock, when the police had the ability to enforce the curfew ordinance, that the event finally was brought to a conclusion,” Hopkins said.
Alderman Monique Scott supported Hopkins’ curfew measure. Scott said she won’t let her 17-year-old daughter go downtown because it’s not safe.
“We forget the big picture. We put everything on the politician but forget that they have a mom. I’m a single mom, and disadvantaged or unprivileged or Black does not mean that you get a license to roam and wreak havoc,” Scott said.
Johnson’s veto would be the first by a Chicago mayor since 2006, when Richard M. Daley held the office.
The city council approved the curfew measure by a vote of 27-22. Aldermen would need 34 votes to override the mayor’s veto.
