As you’ll recall from last summer’s round of Crime Emergency-associated legislation, teens in the District were forced to obey a curfew of 10 p.m. throughout the summer months in an effort to stem the tide of law breaking that was often blamed on youths being out on the streets, up to no good. Did it help? Not particularly as far we could ever tell, though it did allow police to release figures about how many violators they spent time rounding up on a given weekend. Still, then-Mayor Williams opted to extend the curfew through October, well into the school year, because it seemed to at least make some people feel safer.
Today, we’re getting an earful from every which direction (and really, we appreciate all the emails from you readers) about Council member Tommy Wells’ (D-Ward 6) proposed emergency legislation to bring the summer curfew back again. Wells’ proposal, which has already received the support of Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) to the surprise of literally no one, would impose a somewhat more strict curfew than last year’s, in that it would extend to 17-year-olds (last year it was 16 and under). Should the emergency legislation, which is scheduled to be taken up by the Council today, pass, the 10 p.m. curfew would be in effect Monday through Thursday for anyone under 18, with an 11 p.m. curfew on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
One of the first e-mails we got was from the Black Cat, who appear to be ready for a fight on this one. They are accusing Wells and Graham of using this emergency legislation as a backhanded method of achieving a de facto ban on all-ages shows — the very thing Graham failed to achieve earlier this year after receiving much criticism on it from community members.
It’s hard to say whether this curfew would really have that effect — we’re curious to find out whether last summer’s curfew caused a drop in attendance at all-ages shows at places like the Black Cat, so we’ve been trying to reach owner Dante Ferrando, and will let you know what he says about it when we reach him. It’s certainly plausible that a 16 year-old would still be able to catch some live music on the weekend and be home by 11 p.m. (not that it would be much fun to have to go home early). The stronger argument against the curfew is that it’s ineffective, a waste of police resources to enforce, and unfairly targets youths who are looking for ways to fill their time in the summer. Instead of forcing kids to stay at home, the Council would do better to take a more active approach to keeping kids out of trouble by creating opportunities for them to get involved with arts or recreation programs — which includes all-ages music shows.
UPDATE: We’re now hearing that the Council just took a vote on this emergency legislation, and Wells and Graham failed to come up with the 9 votes required for its passage. We’re hearing 7 votes in favor and 6 against. We’ll update again when we hear more.
UPDATE: The Post has a full update on the Council vote.
Photo by Eye Captain
