By Petula Dvorak and Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, August 1, 2006; B01
The District's earlier youth curfew took effect on the city's sweltering streets last night in a dramatic way. A 14-year-old who was out after 10, in violation of the curfew, was picked up on a different charge: theft.
The youth's mother tried to invoke the curfew in her son's defense. She maintained to police that he could not have been the suspect in the theft of potato chips at a Northwest Washington store because he had just called to say he was coming home to avoid violating the curfew.
The incident illustrated one of the purposes of the law: to curb crime by keeping youths off the streets at an hour when crime is more likely to occur. As it turned out, authorities said, the youth was on probation for robbery with a BB gun.
As the minutes ticked by, police seized three other curfew violators. A 13-year-old and his 16-year-old friend said they didn't know about the new hours. A third said she was about to get on a bus (which is an exempt activity in some circumstances).
"I say it's dumb," the 16-year-old said of the earlier deadline for being off the street. "It's the summertime. It's the only time we get to do what we want."
Police drove the 13- and 16-year-old youths to a processing center in Southeast, where each was picked up by a parent. Although she was annoyed to have to retrieve her son, the mother of the 13-year-old said she approved of the new rule.
"Maybe it will stop some violence," she said. "It's good for my son's safety."
And so it went in the first hours of the 10 p.m. curfew. On the whole, it was relatively quiet, with 12 youths brought to the Southeast facility by 1 a.m. That left police officers wondering whether the apparent lack of violators meant that the youths had listened to their warnings about the new hours. Or maybe, the officers mused, it was just that some kids are always going to be where they're not supposed to be, at times when they're not allowed.
The stricter curfew -- two hours earlier than the usual cutoff time for July and August -- has generated debate in neighborhoods throughout the city, with some viewing it as a potential crime-fighting tool and others as a cosmetic solution.
"I gotta think it's a little too early," said Desiree Thrash, 14, of Southeast Washington, who was immediately cut off by her mother.
"It is not -- I love it," Jackie Thrash, 41, declared. "I have teenage children, and I like that the police will be keeping teenagers at home. You're too young to be out that late, anyhow."
But Cynthia Flores, 14, who works for a Latin American youth center, said last night she was concerned that police would concentrate on rounding up teenagers "instead of looking for the people who are out killing each other."
Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) set the 10 p.m. curfew in hopes of curbing an increase in robberies and weapons offenses committed by juveniles. He had the support of the D.C. Council, which gave him the leeway to adjust the curfew hours as part of an emergency crime bill passed last month. The curfew covers all youths 16 and younger who are in the city, regardless of whether they live in the District.
"Young people in the community have been involved in way too much violence," said Sgt. Leo Hitt, who was on patrol last night in Southeast. But he said it "remains to be seen if [the curfew] will be as effective as we hope it will be."
The city has had a curfew since 1999, but lately, police have been enforcing it much more rigorously. The pace accelerated after Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey declared a crime emergency July 11. From July 12 through yesterday morning, police took in 764 curfew violators. In the same stretch last year, they caught 279.
Police typically take the youths to one of two curfew centers, where they contact parents or guardians to pick them up. If police get no response by 6 a.m., the youths are taken to the city's Child and Family Services Agency.
The curfew law has several exceptions. Youths can be out after hours if they are with a parent or guardian or doing errands at a parent or guardian's direction. They also can be at work or attending an official school, religious or recreational activity. And they can be on the sidewalk of their residence or that of a next-door neighbor -- as long as the neighbor isn't complaining to police. Other exceptions are spelled out on the police department's Web site, http://www.mpdc.dc.gov/ .
Within the community, there is some division about the earlier curfew, as the mayor found yesterday. Williams and D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) knocked on doors in the Barry Farm neighborhood of Southeast, encouraging youths to use community programs, find jobs and stay out of trouble.
Barry called for "a balanced approach" to stopping crime, "not just locking people up." Williams said the curfew is "about keeping kids safe."
Several hours after Williams and Barry left, youths gathered at Barry Farm for a nighttime basketball tournament, and some complained about having to get home early.
"I think it should be 11. Ten is too early," said Dominique Johnson, 14, of Suitland, who was visiting in the neighborhood.
"I don't like it. It ruins all the fun," agreed Dominic Martin, 15, a Barry Farm resident.
Members of the D.C. Alliance of Youth Advocates, a coalition of more than 50 groups, criticized the curfew at a news conference last night. Eshauna Smith, the alliance's executive director, called the legislation "an attack on young people in the city."
"This tells young people they're the problem, not part of the solution," Smith said.
The youth advocates said the city should focus resources on job training and education programs.
Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the Washington office of the American Civil Liberties Union, expressed concern that the curfew would be selectively enforced. He encouraged teenagers who have negative experiences to contact his office.
At Gallery Place last night, some youths from Virginia who came to the District for entertainment gave differing views of the curfew.
"It will probably make the place a little safer," said Jamie Breitner, 16, of Falls Church.
"No," chipped in Allie Geller, 15, of Fairfax. "The weird people will still be hanging out past 10 o'clock."
Staff writers Allan Lengel, Robert Samuels and Martin Weil contributed to this report.
