D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the return of a city-wide juvenile curfew and juvenile curfew zones in the District starting Saturday night.
It also includes the juvenile curfew and juvenile curfew zone that will go on until Wednesday, and the Bowser administration says this is just one tool in the tool box.
This comes after the latest instance in what District leaders say was disorderly behavior by young people in Navy Yard Halloween night.
Cell phone footage captured young people being chased by the National Guard and running through a Navy Yard park.
“When I saw the video, I felt deeply disappointed because when we work so hard, when we create environments for young people to have fun and for the message to be positive about our city, it really is disheartening,” said Lindsey Appiah, D.C.’s deputy mayor for public safety.
Appiah said the swift action was in direct response to the disruptive behavior on Halloween night and throughout the past four weeks.
The action comes days before the D.C. Council is expected to vote on whether to grant Metropolitan Police Department Chief Pamela Smith the authority to implement juvenile curfew zones like what was in place in summer 2025.
“It’s much like what you saw over the summer that helped us curb some of the behavior that we were seeing and then stopped and have been seeing over the past couple of weeks,” Appiah said.
D.C.’s city-wide juvenile curfew includes all young people under the age of 18, begins at 11 p.m. and goes until the next morning at 6 a.m. it is expected to last until Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.
The order also grants Smith the authority to designate special juvenile curfew zones for those under 18 and starts at 6 p.m.
Saturday’s curfew zones include U Street Corridor, Banneker Recreation Center, Navy Yard and Union Station.
“What the mayor has repeatedly said is you need to know where your children are. Every place is not safe or a place for kids. U Street after dark and Navy Yard is not a place for young people, and to say know where your children are,” Appiah said. “[…] We had a lot of kids from Maryland and so listen, we’re regional, and so we would say the same thing to our parents and partners in Maryland: know where your children are.”
Police say Friday night, an 18-year-old and four younger teens were arrested. An D.C. police sergeant suffered minor injuries after being knocked to the ground.
The D.C. Council is expected to vote on whether to extend the authority for three months on Tuesday.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
