The lead backer of the Chicago City Council’s push to grant police the power to declare curfews on teens anywhere, anytime says he plans to float a compromise to Mayor Brandon Johnson following a mass shooting and another fatal shooting he believes could have been prevented.
Downtown Ald. Brian Hopkins plans to introduce his ordinance again after nine people were shot, including a 14-year-old boy who was killed, in two incidents linked to a large youth meetup following the city’s recent Millennium Park Christmas tree-lighting. Police identified the Nov. 21 meetup as a cause for concern days ahead of time.
Johnson vetoed an ordinance passed by aldermen in a 27-22 June vote that would have empowered police Superintendent Larry Snelling to declare a teen curfew in any part of the city with as little as 30 minutes notice.
Hopkins, 2nd, told the Tribune Tuesday he is willing to extend the length of the notice period before such curfews can go into effect, a key point of disagreement between the mayor and the council majority that backed the alderman’s earlier plan.
“The truth is, we didn’t do everything we could have done to prevent this 14-year-old from losing his life,” Hopkins said. “And we could have, and we should have and it’s not too late for the next potential event.”
For his part, Johnson declined Tuesday to take an immediate stance on the yet-to-be-refined proposal, but touted the city’s work in driving down crime.
“What we can’t do is give people a pacifier and make them believe that they are being made whole,” he said during a City Hall news conference.
Hopkins declined to say how long a notice period he is seeking. Discussions over a range of times are ongoing, and he plans to introduce the ordinance next week and push it forward after the city’s budget negotiations end, he said.
The alderman would prefer a “near-instantaneous curfew,” he said, but acknowledged the mayor’s firm opposition to the 30-minute forewarning in the vetoed version.
The proposal marks yet another turn in the now yearslong debate over teen curfews at City Hall. Hopkins revived his previous ordinance last March after similar youth meetups ended in two high-profile shootings.
The city has long employed a 10 p.m. citywide curfew on teens. Hopkins credited that curfew with enabling 18 curfew apprehensions on Nov. 21 that he said effectively ended the chaotic gathering during which the shootings took place. Seven people were shot outside the Chicago Theatre, while a 14-year-old boy was killed and an 18-year-old man was injured in a separate shooting the same night in the 100 block of South Dearborn Street in the Loop.
Hopkins had at first sought an 8 p.m. teen curfew downtown last year, but amended the ordinance to allow teen curfews in any part of the city, at any time. Johnson showed cautious neutrality when the power to declare a curfew was set to be shared by the mayor’s office and the police superintendent, but came out in opposition to the measure when Hopkins further amended it to place the power solely in the superintendent’s hands.
Asked Tuesday about Hopkins’ broad plans, Johnson said he is using “every tool available to me to drive violence down in the city” and criticized the focus on one shooting while many others occur across Chicago.
Homicides have dropped 28% compared with the same period last year, while shootings have declined 36%, according to Chicago Police Department data.
“We need adults, parents to absolutely know where their children are, where they’re going. These unsanctioned gatherings have proven to be detrimental and harmful,” he said. “That’s why we had not only additional police officers out there, we had (community violence intervention) workers. It’s why I’m working within my budget to make sure that we are redirecting young people towards positive interactions.”
City officials were well aware that teens planned to meet up as several viral social media posts invited people to the gathering or warned of possible violence. An extra 700 police were deployed downtown, Johnson said.
The mayor also signaled support for targeting social media companies over their role in spreading posts about teen meetups. Ald. William Hall, 6th, a close Johnson ally, plans to introduce an ordinance that would fine social media companies that do not take down posts that could spark such meetups when requested by the city.
“It frustrates me, because it does set our city back. I have worked incredibly hard to drive violence down in this city, because it doesn’t just affect us when it happens in a spectacle like that,” Johnson said.
