Politics
City Council Votes 27-22 to Allow CPD to Declare ‘Snap Curfews’ to Stop Teen Gatherings; Mayor Says He’ll Veto
The Chicago City Council voted 27-22 on Wednesday to allow Chicago Police Department officials to preemptively impose a curfew anywhere in the city and begin enforcing it with just 30 minutes notice despite fierce opposition from Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Johnson said immediately after the City Council meeting he plans to veto the measure in the coming days, the first mayoral veto in 19 years.
“I will veto this ordinance because it is counterproductive to the progress that we have made in reducing crime and violence in our city,” Johnson said. “It would create tensions between residents and law enforcement at a time when we have worked so hard to rebuild that trust.”
Before the City Council’s narrow vote, Johnson repeatedly questioned whether the measure is constitutional and frequently said that he does not believe that expanding the city’s curfew would stop teen “trends” or “takeovers,” large gatherings organized on social media and popular among teens, from turning violent.
Johnson said he would not “repeat the sins and the failures of the past” by adopting new laws that are designed to fight crime but criminalize poor, Black and Latino Chicagoans.
Curfews have been proven not to reduce crime, and he would not support “politicized, knee-jerk reactions,” Johnson said.
Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling told the federal judge overseeing the department’s efforts to comply with a court order requiring the Chicago Police Department to stop routinely violating residents’ constitutional rights on June 10 that he would “never use” the power to enforce a curfew with just 30 minutes notice.
Instead, Snelling promised to use that power only preemptively, to prevent the gatherings from happening at all. That goal is shared by Johnson, who has repeatedly questioned the constitutionality of the proposal.
“This is simply one more tool in that toolbox, and it will work,” said Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), who authored the measure.
Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd Ward) and other supporters of the measure said the City Council must act to stop “teens wreaking havoc on the city” and causing property damage and making others afraid to come downtown.
After Ald. Monique Scott (24th Ward) said she does not allow her 17-year-old daughter to go downtown, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) said Scott was not alone, and called on the City Council to act to ensure that tourists feel safe vacationing in Chicago and businesses expand their operations.
“There is a giant red line drawn around the central business district,” Reilly said.
There has not been a violent mass gathering of teens in Chicago since March. By contrast, there have been three teen takeovers in Naperville in the past month, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Before the vote, 18 members of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus sent Johnson a letter urging him to veto the measure, saying it would “further criminalize youth” and “widen existing disparities, undermine trust in city institutions, and do nothing to meaningfully address the root causes of violence or insecurity.”
Ald. Angela Clay (46th Ward) said teens deserve to have access to every part of the city.
“What we are doing right now is not listening to the young people of this city,” Clay said.
Ald. Jesse Fuentes (26th Ward) said not only would the measure not be effective, but it would also put the city at risk of massive judgements because of its clear unconstitutionality.
Johnson has repeatedly said the measure was unnecessary, especially given the sustained drop in homicides and shootings since the start of the year. Through the end of May, the number of homicides dropped 38%, as compared with the same period in 2024, according to Chicago Police data. The number of shootings is also down 35%, according to police data.
Johnson’s move to veto the measure marks the first mayoral veto in 19 years.
In 2006, former Mayor Richard M. Daley vetoed a measure that would have required big box stores like Target and Wal-Mart to pay their employees more.
It would take 34 votes for the City Council to override a mayoral veto.
The original version of the ordinance required Snelling and Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Garien Gatewood to have “jointly determined that there’s probable cause to believe that a mass gathering will occur.” The ordinance sets no limits on how large an area could be covered by the “snap curfew.”
The version of the ordinance approved Wednesday requires Snelling only to “consult” Gatewood.
That change prompted Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) not just to drop his support for the measure that he had co-sponsored with Hopkins and Dowell but to join the leaders of the City Council’s Progressive Caucus in trying to stop its passage.
A close ally of Johnson and an influential member of the City Council’s Black Caucus, Ervin said that provision would ensure proper checks and balances would be in place before a snap curfew is declared.
“I’ve never seen law enforcement take power and then give it back,” Ervin said, likening the measure to the bills passed by Congress to crack down on drug-related crimes in the 1990s. “This is a crystallizing moment.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
