Teen Curfew Bill At National Harbor Passed During Emergency Meeting

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD — During an emergency meeting Tuesday night, leaders unanimously passed a minor curfew bill at National Harbor.

“We are deeply concerned by what we’re seeing here and in other commercial zones across the county and we’re not going to tolerate it," Councilman Edward Burroughs III said during the meeting.

Burroughs III, who introduced the curfew bill, told WUSA9 the decision to pass the bill comes in response to an increase in teen violence and theft. Over the weekend, a large group of people gathered around to watch a fight at National Harbor. This is the latest instance of violence among young people seen at the harbor.

“It’s not safe to have hundreds of young people unsupervised engaged in destructive behavior here every weekend," Burroughs III said.

Recently, teenagers were seen fighting and hanging out late Saturday night into Sunday morning. There have been other incidents, too, WUSA9 reported.

The bill, "An Act Concerning Juvenile and Minor Curfew Zones,” would let commercial property owners request a more restrictive curfew for people younger than 17 years old.

“It’s not a blanket, one size fits all approach so there are particular hot spots in the county that have seen a massive uptick [of] 20, 30, 40, and even 100 young people on any given Friday night gather in one place,” Burroughs III said. “Each summer we see a huge uptick in crime and so we are doing our best to get ahead of that.”

This would include places like stores, hotels and restaurants, and could start any time after 5 p.m. Curfew requests from those businesses also require a letter of support from a council member and the police chief’s approval. It also includes eventual fines up to $250 for parents who knowingly allow their children to violate the order.

“There’s been an uptick in the amount of young people gathering together 1 a.m., 2 a.m. unsupervised, engaging in disruptive behavior,” Burroughs III said. “We’ve had parents who have rented out hotel suites for 13-, 14-, 15-year-olds thinking that it’s a small sleepover and we come in the room and it’s 50 young people engaged in very descriptive behavior."