Politics
City Council Fails to Override Mayor Johnson’s Veto of Plan to Give CPD Power to Declare ‘Snap Curfews’
The Chicago City Council failed Wednesday to override Mayor Brandon Johnson’s veto of a measure that would have allowed Chicago Police Department officials to preemptively impose a curfew anywhere in the city and begin enforcing it with just 30 minutes notice.
The failure of at least 34 members of the City Council to vote to reject Johnson’s action means the first mayoral veto in 19 years will stand.
Before the City Council voted 27-22 on June 18, Johnson repeatedly questioned whether the measure was 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.
No alderperson changed their vote on the issue during the past month. However, Ald. Emma Mitts (37th Ward) did not cast a vote on June 18 but voted to override the mayoral veto. Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward) missed the override vote, but asked and received special permission to have his vote in favor of overriding the veto added to the official tally.
There has not been a violent mass gathering of teens in Chicago since March. By contrast, there have been several in the western suburbs, according to media reports.
Speaking at an early morning news conference outside his fifth floor office, Johnson said again the measure was unnecessary, especially given the sustained drop in homicides and shootings since the start of the year.
Through the end of June, the number of homicides dropped 30%, as compared with the same period in 2024, according to Chicago police data. The number of shootings is also down 30%, according to police data.
“When I was elected two years ago, I made a pledge not to simply do the easy thing, but to do the right thing,” Johnson said. “The easy thing to do would be to play into the political theater of safety. The easy thing to do would be to tell people that, if we threaten young people and families with severe repercussions that that somehow would make us safer. But, we know from years of doing the same old tired forms of policy that it doesn’t get the results that people have longed for. It doesn’t keep us safe and it doesn’t make our city stronger.”
The original version of the ordinance would have required Chicago Police Supt. Larry 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 by the City Council 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.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
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