Navy Yard residents call to lower DC's youth curfew

Some residents in D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood have begun an aggressive push to lower the District’s youth curfew to 8 p.m., or even earlier, after dozens of teenagers, and even younger children, swarmed the area Saturday.

There were reports of fights, disorderly conduct, two alleged robberies and some of the participants even made their way onto the upper floors of some apartment buildings.

“Summer hasn’t even begun yet,” said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Edward Daniels, whose district includes parts of Navy Yard. “Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer, is this coming weekend. We’ve seen this twice in three weeks.”

He said what happened around 9 p.m. Saturday night on top of a similar event in April warrants a change in the District’s curfew law. Currently, those 17 and under cannot be on the streets without an adult between midnight and 6 a.m.

“As parents, because I’m a parent of a teen, you have to make the executive decision for safety,” said Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Markita Bryant, who also represents parts of the Navy Yard neighborhood. “We saw what was happening down at the Wharf, and they implemented an 8 p.m. curfew. Now it’s Navy Yard and U Street left, so what do we do? I recommend we have a curfew down here.”

Bryant said constituents told her some of the teens made their way past security at apartment buildings and were running through the upper floors. She called on parents to take accountability.

“What I saw was that parents knew where their children were because they picked them up at the end of the night,” she said.

Resident Carolette Sweatt said she believes the solution requires a multi-layered approach.

“The schools are the target area, and that’s our link to find the families that have troubles or that have barriers that are stopping them,” she said.

Curfew regulations, and any changes to them, must be approved by the D.C. Council.