by Jacob Bogage ’12

As teen gangs gathered in downtown Silver Spring July 1, police could do nothing but stand around and watch. They questioned members to slow them down and divert them, but officers had to stand by helplessly until the brawl they anticipated ensued and a young girl was stabbed.

The incident prompted County Executive Isaiah Leggett to propose an 11pm curfew on weeknights and a midnight curfew on weekends. County Council President Valerie Ervin expedited the bill shortly after its introduction. A curfew, Leggett asserts, would let officers preempt gang fights and teen violence and arrest juveniles before violence begins.

“The proposed bill is intended to provide the Montgomery County Police Department with another tool to ensure public safety in the County, as well as provide a regional approach to a curfew, since curfews currently exist in Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia,” County Council President Valerie Ervin told The Warrior.

“Kids tend to go where they have the area of least resistance,” Leggett told the Washington Post about the county’s lack of a curfew. “We sort of stand alone. As a result, you get the residual effect of people going where the opportunities are.”

Police Chief Thomas Manger agrees and claims Prince George’s gangs often congregate in Silver Spring and other down-county areas. A curfew, he, Leggett and Ervin contend, would help officers halt violence and gang activity before it begins.

Under the bill’s current language, teens in violation of curfew would receive a citation (similar to an alcohol citation) and be taken to the nearest police substation to be held until their parent or guardian could pick them up or would be released at 5am the next morning. Parents would also have to attend parenting classes.

However teens around the county are not enthused by Leggett’s proposal and view it as an invasion of their freedoms. Facebook groups opposing the statute racked up thousands of members and SMOB Alan Xie came out strongly against it. Junior Sean Prin believes he shares the same ideology as many his age around the county. “There’s never really any big trouble or real crime,” he said. “Teen crime is just kids acting up.”

Senior Matt Na goes so far as to say a curfew would encourage teen crime in the area. “Having a curfew indicates that certain hours are ‘forbidden’ or ‘illegal’ applies a connotative sense to the midnight hours,” he said. “More restrictions lead to more rebellions and hooligans ready to ransack the whole town.”

Some, however, do see the proposed curfew’s merits. Though she generally sides with opponents of the bill, junior Amelia Naik admits she has never felt secure during proposed curfew hours. “I never felt safe outside at night,” she said. “I always feel like someone is around the corner stalking me.”

Teens have found an elected leader to fight Leggett’s proposed policy. County Councilmember Phil Andrews serves as a Chairman of the Council’s Public Safety Committee and vehemently opposes the statute.

“Making it illegal for an entire group of people to be out in public during certain hours is unwarranted except during a public emergency,” Andrews wrote in a September 7 Gazette editorial, “and the County Executive already has the authority to order a general or limited curfew for up to three days without County Council approval.”

Andrews recently scheduled additional committee work sessions for the bill which further delays a possible vote on the Council floor until November at the earliest, drawing a sharp rebuke from Leggett.

“You don’t need two work sessions. Just extend the one you have,” Leggett told the Post September 13. “It just seems like, from [Andrews’s] perspective, to be an obvious delay.”

However Ervin sees no problems with the extra work sessions. “I look forward to further discussion on the bill, as well as gathering more information on the experiences from Prince George’s County and the District of Columbia on the implementation of their laws,” she said.

Councilmember Craig Rice serves Sherwood’s district and supports the curfew. Rice, who was elected last year after Michael Knapp did not seek re-election, told WTOP radio he had a stark message for teens: “we don’t want you out on the streets.”