Today, a group of Black and brown youth organizers traveled to City Hall to oppose an updated youth curfew policy, which is currently under consideration by the Chicago City Council.
The Black and brown youth are members of Communities United (CU), an intergenerational racial justice organization that develops grassroots leaders to build collective power to achieve racial justice and transformative social change. The youth organizers, along with ACLU Illinois, provided public comment during today’s public safety committee meeting and said that the updated proposal doesn’t address the root causes of violence and urged alders and city leaders to invest in alternative spaces for and programming for young people.
“Young people need year-round programming where we can earn money and support for our families as bills continue to pile up and rent continues to rise,” Isaiah Burton, a CU youth leader, said. Burton is a North Side resident and a survivor of gun violence.
“How does this substitute ordinance make our community safer? It doesn’t. It ignores the real root causes of safety. We need investments in systems of care,” he continued.
Romya Simone, a fellow CU youth leader, echoed that sentiment.
“Is this actually targeting safety issues in our city? Safety, to me, does not mean over policing us. Safety to me means getting to the root cause of gun violence rather than targeting young people,” Simone said.
Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), who chairs the City Council’s public safety committee, has been pushing to revise the city’s youth curfew policy since last year.
Hopkins’ latest proposal specifically targets “disruptive youth gatherings” that are defined as three or more minors “who commit or are likely to commit acts of disorderly conduct,” or that are likely to cause “substantial harm to the safety of community, others, property damage or injury,” according to the legislation text.
The ACLU of Illinois also raised its opposition to the proposed policy change and said that, as written, the legislation would “embolden the police to use heavy-handed tactics against young people” and have a “chilling effect on First Amendment activity,” according to Aisha Davis, senior policy counsel at ACLU of Illinois.
“We do not need another policy that would expand police power in this moment, especially in ways that will limit the ability of our communities, which includes our youth, from voicing their beliefs,” Davis said. “Instead, we should listen to what young people have been saying. The best solution is to provide alternative safe spaces for them to gather and offer activities where they feel welcome.”
The Chicago Police Department already has the authority to disperse crowds. In Hopkins’ latest proposal, it lays out how the Chicago police superintendent would employ a “dispersal declaration” to control what’s deemed a “disruptive youth gathering.” If this update is approved by alders in the future, it would be included as a section in the city’s already existing youth curfew policy.
“Honestly, the curfew does not make us feel safer. Instead, it often makes us feel like we are automatically assumed to be doing something wrong, simply because we are teenagers,” CU youth organizer Arianna Brandt said. “Many of us feel stressed trying to get home from work or school events because we worry about being stopped or questioned.”
The proposed substitute ordinance was one of six items on the public safety committee’s meeting agenda, but Hopkins didn’t call the item for a vote and told his colleagues that the proposal would remain in committee for continued revision.
“Our communities already face serious safety concerns due to gun violence, and now we also have to worry about interacting with police who may not be properly equipped to engage with youth, which could lead to us being mishandled and misunderstood,” Brandt said.
