The nation's capital continues to reel from historic levels of violent crime due to its progressive policies and war its police force. As a result of teenagers taking advantage of lax policies towards them, they have gone out to commit serious crimes in high numbers.
Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) said the Juvenile Curfew Enforcement Pilot would start at the beginning of September:
The vast majority of our young people are doing the right thing – they are back in school, they are involved in extracurriculars, and in the evenings and at night, they are where they need to be – supervised and safe. But we need that to be true for all of our young people, and if we have kids and teenagers who are not in safe situations, we need to connect with those families. I’ve shared before that when I was young, my father used to tell me: there’s nothing good in the street after 11 o’clock. We want our kids home, we want them safe, and if they’re not – we want families working with us to get their kids the help that they need.
For the start of the program, it had a violent start. ABC 7News reported there were at least four shootings that resulted in the deaths of four people on the first night. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah confirmed zero children were taken to the facility during the first night of the curfew. Officials noted the majority of children who are told to go home by police officers follow those orders, and the program's success will not be defined by the number of apprehensions.
"We want young people to be safe, and we know oftentimes when they're out at 2 and 3, at these times at night and in the morning there's a lack of safety for them and others," Appiah said. "How do we make sure youth and families who are maybe in need of assistance are getting it?"
Shootings within the city is still a major problem along with carjackings and car theft.
DC Police say more than 100 rounds were fired by multiple gunmen in a shooting Friday night that claimed the lives of two teen girls & wounded another. A law enforcement source says a neighborhood beef is behind the violence in Shaw. At 4 we speak with Mikeya Fergusons dad. pic.twitter.com/tC2qs0j8xp
— Paul Wagner (@paulcwagner) September 4, 2023
One of the best things people can do to reduce crime in DC is to stop listening to people like this. The “kid” he is referring to is 17 and was charged with three carjackings in a two-hour span last Wednesday, then a kidnapping and seven robberies within a seven-hour span. https://t.co/YDWu0okZni
— DC Police Union (@DCPoliceUnion) September 1, 2023
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