Chicago can look to D.C. for ‘teen takeover’ reforms
In Washington D.C., the mayor and city council found a way to manage teen takeovers. Chicago should pay attention.
From dinner table conversation, to City Council debates, to mayoral press conferences, teen takeovers may be the most prominent public safety topic in Chicago.1
Recent high-profile teen takeovers, also known as teen trends, include:
A November 2025 incident near the Chicago Theatre during the Millennium Park tree-lighting that left a 14-year-old dead and eight others wounded in two separate shootings.
A March 2025 incident in Streeterville left a 15-year-old grazed by a bullet, with officers logging 12 arrests for battery against police, resisting arrest, and possession of a replica firearm.
A May 2026 incident on the Near West Side where hundreds of teens gathered ended when an 18-year-old drove his car into five police officers. He is now charged with attempted murder.
Of course, many young people participating in these trends lack consistent access to fun, safe events. And any sustainable response to teen takeovers requires work to address those disparities, including through city-funded programs.
But frustration has been brewing for more than two years on this topic due to a repeating cycle that leaves Chicagoans without resolution:
A teen takeover gets out of control, causing disorder and violence.
City Council calls for law enforcement reforms to better manage these trends, typically involving curfews.
Mayor Brandon Johnson rejects the Council’s push, and highlights the need for city spending on programs for youth.
This cycle lacks curiosity, driven by two simple questions. Beyond investing in youth programs, what law enforcement tools have other big cities used to effectively respond to this phenomenon? And what can our city learn from their experience?
Chicago is not alone in facing teen trends, after all.
Washington’s experience is worth considering.
Lessons from D.C.
In Summer 2025, Washington’s Navy Yard neighborhood became a focal point for the D.C. version of Chicago’s teen takeover problem — repeated large gatherings that spurred violence in one of the city’s busiest dining and nightlife districts.
After a particularly chaotic Independence Day weekend in 2025, Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council had seen enough.
Working together, they created a new tool: extended juvenile curfew zones.
Here’s how the zones work:
A juvenile curfew zone is a defined geographic area where the police chief can impose an earlier, stricter curfew: no gatherings of nine or more minors in any public place beginning at 8 p.m.
Zones last up to four days and must be declared based on cause: either recent crime in the area or credible intelligence about a planned gathering likely to endanger public safety.
Police must issue at least two verbal warnings before taking enforcement action.
Violations are civil infractions, not criminal charges.
Here’s a brief history of how the zones have been implemented so far, and the initial results:
July 7, 2025: The D.C. Council passed emergency legislation introduced at Bowser’s request (Juvenile Curfew Emergency Amendment Act of 2025). This gave the police chief authority to declare extended juvenile curfew zones, among other changes. In D.C., emergency legislation expires after 90 days.
Summer 2025: D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith declared seven curfew zones between July and August. The city reported zero violations during active zone hours and hailed the measure as a success.
Oct. 5, 2025: The emergency legislation expired. And within weeks, disorderly gatherings returned.
Nov. 4, 2025: In response, the Council passed first reading of legislation keeping the curfew framework alive through April (final passage Dec. 2).
Feb. 12–April 15, 2026: Once the law took effect, the chief of police declared 14 curfew zones resulting in just seven total violations — a figure the city cited as evidence the tool was working.
May 5, 2026: The Council passed legislation permanently codifying the police chief’s curfew zone authority. The law will take effect in July after a mandatory congressional review period.
May 22, 2026: With the temporary act expired and the permanent law still weeks away, Bowser issued a new executive order restoring police authority to declare juvenile curfew zones through June 6, 2026. A gap between June 6 and mid-July, when the permanent law kicks in, may require another bridge order.
Of course, this single enforcement tool is not enough to permanently solve the issue of teen trends.2 But to the extent results can be measured, they are encouraging. What D.C. has shown is that the political coalition for this tool can hold. And it can continue to evolve in response to changing circumstances.
Adopting D.C.-style reforms in Chicago
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling spent much of his recent appearance at the City Club emphasizing the need to respond appropriately to teen takeovers.
Snelling is not alone. Illinois State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, highlighted the issue this way in a recent interview on the Fran Spielman Show: “Accountability is not the opposite of love. Accountability is part of love and we ought to start acting that way.”
Chicago City Council should consider a three-month pilot program similar to D.C.’s. Results should be reported back to the Council’s public safety committee on a consistent basis. And if it’s working, extend it.
Beyond responding to teen takeovers, two landmark reports point the way to professional excellence in the Chicago Police Department. One of the most stunning findings in those reports is that CPD has no clear, department-wide framework guiding how officers are expected to engage with the public in everyday interactions.
And of course, the city should continue investing in and measuring the outcomes of its youth programming.
As I wrote in City Journal last year, one of the most painful parts of the new Chicago pension sweeteners signed by Gov. JB Pritzker is that they will cost more money in 2026 ($60 million) than the city’s entire summer youth jobs program ($52 million) —ballooning to $753 million a year by 2055.
Despite his support for the youth summer jobs program, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said nothing publicly against those sweeteners as they moved through Springfield.
In the news
The Wall Street Journal published my take on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s city budget proposal: “Capitalism Delivers for Zohran Mamdani.” The piece highlights how Mamdani’s city budget relies heavily on cuts to pension payments made possible by strong stock-market returns.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board also cited the Chicago Policy Center in their piece on Chicago Teachers Union members’ rejection of a proposed $8.5 million dues hike for politics (“A Union Dues Rebellion in Chicago”), as first reported in The Last Ward.
I joined the Mincing Rascals podcast on WGN Radio last week to discuss a variety of federal, state, and local issues (Youtube, Apple, Spotify).
And I joined Sarah Schulte on ABC 7 to discuss Brandon Johnson and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates traveling to Rome during the waning days of legislative session in Springfield.
A “teen takeover” or “teen trend” is a large gathering of young people, typically organized through social media or text chains, that converges on a public place.
Notably, academic research on DC’s standing juvenile curfew (which shifts seasonally from midnight to 11 p.m.) found it was associated with more gunfire during curfew hours, likely because removing bystanders from streets reduced the deterrent effect on street crime. But this is not the same policy as the new juvenile curfew zones, which are more targeted.