2025 Testimony Hearing on Public Hearing on Public Safety and Juvenile Justice

ACLU-D.C. is opposed to the Juvenile Curfew Amendment Act of 2025 that makes permanent expansions to the District's juvenile curfew law. An 8pm curfew puts kids at risk. From past stop and frisk data, we already know that Black residents make up just 44% of D.C.'s population, yet they account for 70% of those stopped by MPD.1 This inequity extends to Black youth as well, and the curfew expansion would only exacerbate it.
Further, there is little to no evidence that curfews are effective at meeting the stated goal of reducing youth related crime and victimization. A 2023 systematic review of twelve quantitative evaluations of the effects of curfews found the “evidence suggests that juvenile curfews are ineffective at reducing crime and victimization.”

The District would be better served by a greater investment in supporting our youth. In our recent report, Building Safety Through Resources: A Better Path to Public Safety in D.C., we explored several programs worthy of D.C. investment to help our youth.

Testifying about other public safety issues in the District, ACLU-DC raised concerns about the lack of transparency with how MPD is cooperating with federal law enforcement, particularly for immigration enforcement. In addition, we raised concerns about the number of MPD officer involved shootings, and that the Council is not doing enough in its oversight capacity to get answers for the public on these issues.