Renewed calls for earlier teen curfews in downtown Chicago are again being floated after large gatherings led to chaos and multiple arrests Friday night. Vi Nguyen has the story.
Renewed calls for earlier teen curfews in downtown Chicago are again being floated after large gatherings led to chaos and multiple arrests Friday night.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, speaking at the city’s fourth annual Teen Bash at Navy Pier Saturday, reacted for the first time to what occurred near the intersection of Columbus and Illinois on Friday.
“The dangerous behavior that was on display, no one wants to see that, and our police department will continue to hold people accountable,” he said.
Video from the scene captured the chaotic sight as hundreds of teens gathered, with multiple fights breaking out. An individual fired shots in the large crowd, with one 15-year-old suffering a graze wound to the leg.
In a similar gathering near the AMC River East 21 earlier this year, a tourist was shot while walking with her son.
According to Ald. Brian Hopkins, a Chicago police officer suffered a hand injury trying to break up a fight at the location. Two individuals were arrested for battering a police officer and could face felony charges, and two people were arrested for carrying replica firearms.
Hopkins is calling for an earlier curfew for teens to prevent similar incidents from happening again as summer draws closer.
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“We can’t have this. We have to put a stop to this. We can’t allow this to continue all summer long,” he said. “It’s just a matter of time before someone is killed.”
Johnson has pushed back against ideas of pushing the curfew from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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“What I’m calling for is to do what works,” he said. “Shifting the problem into other communities, that’s not how we transform our city.”
Johnson instead has called for additional recreation opportunities for teens rather than shifting up the downtown curfew during the summer months.
Hopkins disagrees that such a curfew wouldn’t work, and says he hopes the City Council will take up a curfew measure in April.
“The only thing that has an effect is making arrests when laws are broken, or enforcing curfew,” he said. “Those are the two things that really do work to disperse the crowd. Telling them not to, or scolding them, they just laugh. They know it’s not going to do anything.”
Residents and workers in Streeterville have expressed concerns about the number of gatherings, and the actions of those teens that are in the groups.
“It’s become like a hazard. Now you have to worry about this every day when it’s warm,” Miguel Torres told NBC 5.
“Throwing more police on it is not going to be the solution,” Streeterville resident Tim Christopher added. “It seems like the kids that are down here need something to do.”
Tio Hardiman, president of Violence Interrupters, echoed similar notes, calling for the city to open 24-hour community centers that provide teens safe places to gather and to participate in constructive activities.
“We have to do a better job as leaders to make sure these young people are occupied,” he said.
