Prince George’s County Council members passed emergency legislation Tuesday that creates a path for targeted youth curfews following last weekend’s teen melee at National Harbor.
Council members passed the bill in a vote of 10-0-1, expediting legislation that was already under review after reports of wide-scale fighting on Saturday at the retail center along the Potomac River.
District 8 council member Edward Burroughs (D) led the charge of sponsoring and proposing the bill, which was initially introduced last week.
“It is with no joy that I bring this bill forward, but I can assure you that there is an absolute need to make this emergency legislation,” he said Tuesday. “I am concerned about the public health, safety and welfare at certain commercial zones in our county, particularly in my district. I am also concerned about not just protecting our county assets, particularly those that are the economic engines of the county, but also protecting the young people.”
The legislation is a swift response to a fracas on Saturday at National Harbor where about 100 teens gathered around a fight before scattering when police arrived, according to a report from WJLA-TV. One business closed because of a “flash mob robbery,” the outlet reported.
There has been a broader push to address juvenile crime in the D.C. suburb, which is one of many jurisdictions grappling with an uptick in youth violence. For three years, more adolescents than adults have been arrested on carjacking charges in the county. Last year, 92 juveniles were arrested — sometimes on school grounds — on suspicion of possessing a gun, according to county police department data.
On Friday afternoon, five teens were shot and injured in a Prince George’s County park where hundreds of students from multiple high schools had gathered on “senior skip day,” authorities said.
According to Greenbelt police, three victims have been released from a hospital, and two remain in stable condition.
Burroughs’s bill emphasized parental responsibility, with a provision that could allow police to fine guardians who allow juveniles to be in public places without a specified exemption, such as living on a specified property or exercising First Amendment rights.
“This requirement is intended to hold a neglectful or careless parent up to a reasonable community standard of parental responsibility through an objective test,” the bill states. “It shall, therefore, be no defense that a parent was without knowledge of the activities or conduct or whereabouts of such juvenile or minor.”
A first, second and third offense would yield fines of $50, $100 and $250, respectively. Places open to the public face similar fines for knowingly allowing juveniles to be on their premises.
Guardians also would be responsible for repaying the county for the time of any employee assigned to stay with a juvenile detained for violating the curfew, determined by the hourly wage and benefits of the county employee.
At-large council member Mel Franklin (D), who voted in favor of the bill, expressed concerns about adding to the county’s current juvenile curfew, which he said doesn’t appear to be enforced.
Sakinda Skinner, council liaison to the county executive, said the county executive’s office supports the bill and remarked that it had “real teeth.”
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks enforced a youth curfew on Sept. 9, 2022, for children under 17, which was announced following one of the deadliest months in county history. The juvenile curfew code had existed on the books since it was passed by the Prince George’s County Council in 1995.
From Sunday through Thursday, the curfew was from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and on Friday and Saturday, the curfew was from 11:59 p.m. to 5 a.m. The curfew was initially announced as a 30-day enforcement, but it was extended through the end of the year.
Nicole Asbury contributed to this report.
