DC police chief talks summer youth curfew

WASHINGTON ( DC News Now ) — Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Chief Pamela Smith has an important question for parents in the nation’s capital.

“It’s 12:01 a.m. Do you know where your children are?” Smith said.

Smith said in an interview with DC News Now that MPD is cracking down on youth violating the 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. summer curfew and wants parents to be more engaged and accountable for knowing the whereabouts of their children.

Youth who committed robberies and carjackings contributed to a surge in the violence that overwhelmed the District last summer. That’s something the chief said she is taking aim at this summer with intentional patrols and methods to deter juvenile crime.

“It’s a small number, not a vast majority, a small number, but we don’t want our young people incarcerated or in prison,” Smith said.

The department has a so-called Youth and Family Engagement Bureau that works closely with young people to keep them out of trouble, she said.

The chief said that “curfew cars” are placed in every District to look for youth and take them to the Child and Family Services facility for parents to pick them up.

“I think for me there has to be some accountability with some of the parents, like having a conversation with getting the parents, keeping the parents more involved,” Smith said.

Smith said that there are MPD members who also mentor and coach youth, too, and look to engage them in the summer months.

“There’s an enforcement piece, but there’s also this piece that we want to provide structure and guidance to our young people,” she said.

Gregory Fuller agreed. He is the football coach at H.D. Woodson High School in Northeast D.C. and has also mentored youth in the District.

Fuller said he’s worried about young people having proper structure at home and also jobs to keep them busy during the summer months.

“Parents should always be accountable,” he said. “You can’t build a building if you don’t have a foundation. Home is the foundation of everything.”

All youth are worth investing in, he said.

“We can save a lot of our youth,” Fuller added. “The environment has to be corrected first.”

Smith agreed and said it’s not always the parent’s fault.

“We have parents who are also struggling with their children,” she said. “They want to see their children’s behavior change.”

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