The teen curfew conversation has been reignited with a new proposal that seeks to lower the downtown Chicago curfew to 8 p.m. for unaccompanied minors, as opposed to the city-wide 10 p.m. curfew.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) came up with the idea following a violent attack on May 31 when a group of teenagers allegedly assaulted a couple in the Streeterville neighborhood. The man was hit in the head several times, and the woman was kicked in the stomach, which she said caused her to suffer a miscarriage.
If the curfew were to go into effect, it would affect the Central Business District, which includes Hopkins’ represented communities of Streeterville, River North, the Loop and parts of the South and West Loop.
Hopkins and Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward), who also supports the plan, declined an invitation to appear on “Chicago Tonight.”
The push has been met with mixed reviews.
“We’re penalizing 500,000 kids for the actions of a few hundred,” said James Wales, president of South Loop Neighbors.
He agrees with the sentiment that “kids shouldn’t be out at all hours of the night,” as said by Chicago police Supt. Larry Snelling, but Wales thinks this latest attempt at an enhanced curfew isn’t the best direction.
“Look at the reasons for the kids coming down to congregate,” said Wales.
Rather than an enhanced curfew, Wales supports holding parents accountable for the actions of their children, and finding the root causes of the issue rather than singling out all minors.
“What people see is what they read in newspapers and see on the TV,” said Wales. “Kids certainly create scenarios where they become perpetrators of violent crime, but that goes for people of all ages.”
Hopkins is expected to introduce the ordinance at Wednesday’s City Council meeting.
A Safer City is supported, in part, by the Sue Ling Gin Foundation Initiative for Reducing Violence in Chicago.
