CHICAGO—Mayor Brandon Johnson said he will veto an ordinance that would allow the police superintendent to declare a curfew anywhere in the city with just 30 minutes’ notice to respond to so-called “teen takeover” gatherings.
The ordinance was approved by city council members Wednesday by a 27-22 vote. Speaking to reporters shortly after the vote, Mayor Johnson said the ordinance is “counterproductive to the progress” the city has made in reducing crime and violence.
“It would create tensions between residents and law enforcement at a time when we have worked so hard to rebuild that trust,” Johnson said. “We have made significant progress in our compliance with the consent decree, and now is not the time to introduce new measures that could undermine those hard-fought gains.”
City council would need a supermajority of 34 votes in order to override Johnson’s veto.
The Chicago Teachers Union issued a statement condemning the curfew ordinance and compared it to Jim Crow-era legislation.
“There is a deep irony that the loudest voices against youth jobs and resourcing their learning are also the loudest in favor of policies to put them in jail,” said CTU President Stacy Davis Gates, who called for Johnson to issue a veto. Gates called for greater investment in policies and programs for Black youth.
“The Black youth of our city are filled with amazing potential, powerful dreams, dynamic intuition, and boundless brilliance,” Gates continued. “But instead of being met with systems and a city that nurtures, inspires, and protects those traits, they live in the wake of former mayors shutting down their schools, witness CEO’s cutting their educational programming, city council members refusing summer jobs, and they receive a resounding message that they are not welcome in the city they call home.”
Teen takeovers—also referred to as “trends”—are large gatherings of minors in public areas organized via social media. Some of these gatherings have previously led to violence, such as when a 46-year-old tourist was shot and injured in March amid a teen takeover in Streeterville that included dozens of teens allegedly fighting and shoplifting.
The curfew ordinance calls for Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling to predict, based on social media activity and other evidence, when a group of 20 or more people plan to gather “in a manner that is likely to result in, substantial harm to the safety of the community or others, or substantial damage to property, or substantial injuries to a person” or that is “likely to present or cause, substantial harm to public health, safety, or welfare.” The “snap” curfew would last for at least three hours. Chicago’s regular curfew goes into effect at 10 p.m.
During a hearing last week on Chicago’s court-mandated police reform efforts, Snelling told a federal judge that he would “never use” the power to call a snap curfew and described it as “unfair” to minors.
“It would be unfair to the youth who are already in that location,” Snelling said. “That is not something that I asked for or that I need. That is a proposal within that ordinance from the alderman.”
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois has argued the ordinance would undermine minors’ due process rights and would likely be enforced in a “discriminatory fashion,” noting that the Chicago Police disproportionately arrested Black people during a curfew in 2020.
The ordinance’s lead sponsor, 2nd Ward Alderman Brian Hopkins, said its “primary goal” is to prevent teen takeover gathering events from happening.
“We’ve seen the videos of the events that inspired this ordinance, and no one here is okay with that,” Hopkins said. He added that it’s not acceptable for children as young as 12 “to take guns out of their backpacks and to engage in violent behavior, and mayhem, and chaos.”
Hopkins previously described the teen takeover events as “breeding grounds for violence and theft” in a newsletter to his constituents.
United Working Families, an independent political organization based in Chicago, issued a statement Wednesday calling the snap curfew ordinance “racist” and said Chicago youth deserve “investment in community-based programming–not criminalization.”
“This reactionary ordinance hands even more unchecked power to the police, and is a license to increase the racially-motivated surveillance that puts the lives of Black and Brown youth at risk,” UWF’s executive committee said. “We know that what makes our communities safer is investing in them through holistic approaches to public health and safety: publicly funded mental health centers, secure housing, youth summer jobs and programming, fully funded schools, and trauma-informed violence prevention.”
In its statement, United Working Families called for the passage of the Peace Book Ordinance, which seeks to increase investment in youth-led violence prevention programs. The ordinance would employ youth peacekeepers, create neighborhood-based peace commissions, and create a “Peace Book” guide of resources for de-escalation and violence prevention tactics.
“Alders who back the snap curfew aim to increase CPD’s power and decrease oversight, and are not concerned with true safety,” United Working Families said. “Instead, they choose to create a facade of safety in the downtown area by curbing the freedom of and criminalizing youth of color.”
“We must create a city and state where all our young people are cared for, empowered, and given the tools they need to thrive.”
United Working Families was formed in 2014 as a coalition between the Chicago Teachers Union, SEIU Healthcare Illinois Indiana, Grassroots Illinois Action, and Action Now.
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