Great news for the homeless—the snap curfews are getting closer to being made law in Chicago. The full City Council is set to consider this, and perhaps vote on it, today (Wednesday).
The snap curfew is a process of police closing down certain neighborhoods at certain locations and at certain times. Why are such curfews sought?
Groups of teenagers and young adults flood into certain neighborhoods—this often being planned and announced on social media—and basically “take over” the area. It causes huge grief and high blood pressure for the police, of course.
Melody Mercado of “Block Club Chicago” states, “The measure was approved by the council’s Committee on Public Safety by a 10-7 vote Tuesday and comes after a year of advocacy from Alderman Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward), who has pushed for curfew-related legislation to curb teen takeovers.”
This is an important piece of the puzzle to make the city safer because homeless persons wind up swept up into the chaos and danger of the marauding teens. The unhoused have nowhere to hide—and they must figure out how to negotiate and buy their own safety while the teens are running through—and closing down—the streets in various parts of the city.
Mayor Johnson has been under attack by a lot of Loop businesses and residents because it is too unsafe for people to be outdoors—especially on summer weekend nights—with the constant threat there will be hundreds of teenagers taking over the area.
Police have felt their hands are tied because they have to very carefully disperse the groups and are not encouraged—or backed up—to arrest the teens. In addition, the police are often outnumbered by the teens who run all over the neighborhood… threatening shoppers, destroying property, jumping on automobiles, beating pedestrians, often brandishing or firing guns, breaking windows, looting in the stores, closing down streets, and just generally “taking over” the areas.
The mayor has repeatedly stated it is wrong to “demonize” the teens and young adults and that more needs to be done to provide them opportunities.
The argument is often made that teenagers and young people “have no place to go…” though what is meant by this is hard to understand and is never explained. Presumably this means teens in some neighborhoods do not have job opportunities, community centers, or places to meet friends and socialize.
