DC Implements Youth Curfew to Prevent Trouble

(HorizonPost.com) – The District of Columbia on July 1 began enforcing its summer curfew for residents under the age of 17 as part of its efforts to control crime in the nation’s capital.

Under Washington’s summer curfew, the city’s youth are banned from streets, public areas, city establishments, and vehicles between midnight at 6:00 a.m. every day.

Last September, the district began a pilot curfew program requiring youth to be home by midnight on weekends and 11:00 p.m. on weeknights. Under the summer curfew, youths have an extra hour on weeknights during July and August.

In an interview on “Get Up DC” in late June, DC-Metro Police Chief Pamela Smith urged parents to know where their children were when curfew began at 12:01 a.m. each night. She said the district wanted to ensure that youth who are in need are provided with safe spaces. She warned young people who are out after curfew for whatever reason that the Metro Police “have a place for them” as well.

According to Chief Smith, those minors who are out after curfew are transported to one of the district’s Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services facilities where they wait until a parent or guardian can pick them up and take them home “to a safe location.”

Since the pilot curfew program began last September, the DC-Metro police have transferred 71 minors to a Department of Youth and Rehabilitation Services facility for violating the curfew.

Minors who violate the district’s curfew law could be ordered to perform community service of up to 25 hours.

Parents or guardians who “knowingly” allow minors to violate curfew or provide “insufficient controls” to prevent them from violating curfew could also be ordered to perform community service or pay a fine of as much as $500.

There are exemptions to the curfew for minors who are returning home from a job or classes or are out to attend a school, recreational, or religious activity. Minors who are accompanied by a parent or guardian or those riding in a vehicle for interstate travel are also exempt.

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