Hundreds of teens descended on Navy Yard on Halloween, one day after a public hearing on legislation to continue an emergency youth curfew. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) said a sergeant was knocked down and had to receive emergency treatment. Today, councilmembers extended the emergency curfew another 90 days by a vote of 9-4 after they faced a heated vote on restoring curfew powers to the mayor and police chief.
A public hearing last Thursday drew urgent testimony from city officials who said the measure is needed to keep communities and businesses safe. Convened by the DC Council’s Committee on Judiciary & Public Safety, it began with Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah and Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith, who warned that recent large gatherings of youth risked spiraling into violence.
Councilmember Brooke Pinto, the committee chair, introduced the Juvenile Curfew Second Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 on Oct. 7 but withdrew it to allow for a hearing after colleagues objected to repeatedly extending curfews through emergencies. “It is unfair to our communities for us to do emergency after emergency, and nobody gets to weigh in,” At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson said in opposing the legislation.
At the hearing, city officials appealed for the emergency law. “In order to be effective, we need the Council to reauthorize the Youth Curfew Zones,” Chief Smith said Oct. 30. “Failure to act leaves a vacuum that the federal government has made clear it will fill,” Appiah added.
Opponents—including some councilmembers, youth organizations, and nonprofits—countered that the city’s real need is investment in youth services, after-school programs, and recreation centers, not more punitive curfews.
But on Halloween night, just a day after the hearing, several hundred youths converged on Navy Yard, prompting chaos and multiple arrests. In response, Mayor Muriel Bowser issued an executive order that weekend instituting a city-wide curfew for minors and empowering the police chief to create “curfew zones.” The order, in effect until Nov. 5, cannot not be renewed without council support.
History of the Curfew Act
The framework stems from the 1995 Juvenile Curfew Act, which set hours for minors and allowed restrictions in certain zones. The city has repeatedly extended it through emergency amendments. Early this summer, the Council approved legislation moving curfews for those under 17 from midnight to 11 p.m. and granting MPD authority to create “extended curfew zones” in areas of concern. That bill ended Oct. 5.
Over the summer, MPD tested seven zones, concentrated in the U Street corridor and Navy Yard, with others in Northeast and Southwest. Youth under 18 were prohibited from gathering in groups of eight or more after 8 p.m. The city credited the zones with reducing “disruptive behavior.”
At the Oct. 30 hearing, public-safety officials said the city needs permanent statutory authority, not temporary fixes, to respond when large youth gatherings escalate. They sought emergency legislation while a permanent law is drafted.
Throughout the summer, hundreds of teens gathered through social-media flash events, often within hours. Chief Smith described incidents since the last curfew expired, including one on U Street where youths smashed car windows, fought drivers, and drove a stolen car into a tree. “These incidents were not just ‘kids being kids,’” Smith said, adding the trend is not unique to DC.
Officials said unchecked gatherings in nightlife corridors such as the Wharf, Navy Yard, and U Street stretch police resources and endanger businesses. “We have to make sure we have the ability to respond to what’s happening on the ground,” Mayor Bowser said recently.
“Where Are We Supposed to Go?”
Smith and Appiah called the legislation proactive, meant to prevent confrontations between youth and police. Under the curfew, police first encourage youth to disperse. If they refuse, they can be taken to a station and picked up by a parent or guardian. The alternative, Appiah said, would be charging them with “affray,” or disturbing public order.
Youth witnesses questioned that logic. “If we say they can’t go here, where are they supposed to go?” one asked. An Anacostia High School sophomore told the council, “If you don’t want us outside, make a space for us to be in.”
At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson (i) agreed, pointing out with curfews at National Harbor, Potomac Mall, Navy Yard and the Wharf kids that don’t feel safe at home have few options. But, she said, the same was true that day for council. “Then the totality of evidence of what has been happening in community, as well as the judiciary’s recent public hearing on this matter —yes, I will be voting in favor of this measure.”
However, she said the effort to disperse large youth gatherings was a game of “whack a mole” that DC was playing together with Maryland and Virginia. A curfew is only a tool, she said, addressing where but not what else. “Where do we want them to go?” she asked, noting that DC has forbidden kids to attend football games without parents and will likely do so for basketball games. She implored the Mayor’s office to create and fund a plan before the hearing on permanent curfew legislation using available grant funding.
Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White Sr. (D) has said that if the city wanted to fund more programs, it could. “Budgets are a moral document,” he said. “It’s less about budget constraints and more about budget priority,” he said Oct. 30.
Federal Presence
Critics and supporters alike pointed to increased federal involvement in DC policing. In a period when MPD’s cooperation with agencies such as ICE remains unclear, some warned the curfew could expose youth to immigration enforcement.
“This city is occupied, let’s not mince words,” said Councilmember Lewis-George. “And I think we are taking a huge risk with young lives by voting yes on a curfew right now. “ She said she asked if we could be sure there will be no federal agents enforcing the curfew and the answer, she said, was “no”.
Citing video of National Guard chasing kids in Navy Yard at 6:30 p.m. She said she worried, because the council was not responding to a youth crisis with care and additional safe spaces but with additional opportunity for federal forces to encounter District kids. What she fears, she said, was that a kid would be injured or killed.
At the public hearing, Appiah acknowledged the sensitivity noting MPD should remain the lead agency, though she would not rule out federal cooperation. “I want to be careful to not say that we won’t have partners like Metro Transit Police enforcing curfew zones. I think it’s important to clarify that.”
Supporters argued the District cannot afford to abandon measures that preserve safety. “It’s a very, very tricky and difficult time in our nation and certainly in our city,” Appiah told the council the day before Halloween. The federal government, she said, is watching and weighing whether to intervene. “And we say ‘no,’ because of home rule we are capable of self-determination and so we need to do that.”
Appiah reminded members that President Trump’s August declaration of a crime emergency under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act underscored DC’s vulnerability. “We must be laser-focused on preserving home rule and our autonomy, and a vital component of that work is continuing to drive down crime and increase safety in our city.”
Halloween Night
The arguments were overshadowed by Halloween footage showing hundreds of youths running through Navy Yard. Police said fights broke out, crowds blocked traffic, and multiple law-enforcement agencies—including MPD, Metro Transit Police, Capitol Police, and the National Guard—moved in to clear streets. An MPD sergeant was knocked to the ground.
MPD arrested at least five youths: one charged with affray, another with possession of a knife, two with failure to obey, and one for public marijuana use. “The behavior displayed last night in Navy Yard is unacceptable,” Chief Smith said a press release Nov. 1, promising an increased presence. She later noted that many teens skipped city-sponsored Halloween events.
Emergency vs. Permanent
That chaos framed today’s vote, as Pinto re-introduced the Juvenile Curfew Second Emergency Amendment Act of 2025. The measure, passed after visible reluctance from several members, reinstates the lower curfew time for 17-year-olds, authorizes the mayor to extend hours during public-safety emergencies, and allows the police chief to create “extended juvenile curfew zones” beginning as early as 8 p.m.
Councilmembers Lewis-George, R. White, T. White and Nadeau opposed. Many members who supported said theirs were one-time votes pending long-term youth-support solutions.
Mayor Bowser, however, has asked that the curfew and zone authority be written permanently into DC Code. At her request, Council Chair Phil Mendelson introduced the Juvenile Curfew Amendment Act of 2025 on Oct. 31. That bill has yet to receive its first reading but is expected to receive its first vote by Dec. 3.
