Hundreds Of Teens Fighting At National Harbor Prompts Youth Curfew Expansion

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — After several cases of unsupervised teenagers at National Harbor fighting, shoplifting and an unruly gathering of nearly 800 teens on Senior Skip Day, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks has reinstated a ban on unaccompanied minors on the weekend.

The youth curfew takes effect Friday after Alsobrooks declared a state of emergency.

Unaccompanied kids and teens who are age 16 and younger are not allowed at National Harbor on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m.

"This has been a frustration to the community and residents. We share this frustration. This type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Alsobrooks said at a Thursday morning news conference.

Teens who violate the curfew will be given a warning first, according to Prince George's County Police Chief Malik Aziz and a written notice will be mailed to their parents. If teens break curfew again, their parents could be fined up to $250.

A few exceptions to the curfew include young people leaving work or heading back from a school-sponsored activity, like prom. Law enforcement officers will be in full force at National Harbor this weekend to educate everyone about the new rules and signage will be posted, Aziz said during a Thursday morning news conference.

Last Saturday, about 800 teenagers at National Harbor fought, smoked marijuana, shoplifted and committed other crimes, Aziz said.

"Our police encountered children as young as 8, 10, 11, 12 who were running around in the Harbor unaccompanied by an adult. It's unacceptable," Aziz said. "The safety of our children is in peril. Last weekend, we saw 800 juveniles converge on National Harbor, many who were not there to partake in the wonderful waterfront environment ... they were confrontational with business owners, residents and law enforcement."

Aziz clarified during the news conference that the emergency order moves up the time that the juvenile curfew takes effect, as there is a decades-old curfew already in effect in the county.

"There aren't many reasons your unaccompanied children need to travel alone anywhere, especially late into the night," Aziz said at the news conference.

Alsobrooks’ emergency order comes after the Prince George’s County Council passed an emergency bill allowing the county police chief to designate juvenile curfew zones if requested by retail and commercial property owners.

"This executive order curfew is just a temporary measure as we finalize a long-term solution using legislation that is currently working its way through our county council," Alsobrooks said at the news conference.

The council bill for commercial district curfews in the county is expected to be passed next week. Alsobrooks said the executive order will be in place till the bill passes.

She described the past weekend's incident of 800 juveniles engaging in illegal activity at National Harbor as "quite troubling."

The teen curfew was enhanced by Alsobrooks in 2022 after a baby was shot, four people were killed and several others injured Labor Day weekend. It restricted teens 17 and younger from being out past set times and was extended through the end of 2022, Patch reported previously.

Overall crime decreased by 20 percent during the hours of the 2022 curfew in the first month of enforcement, between Sept. 9 and Oct. 11, compared to the previous 30 days, officials reported. Carjackings, contact shootings and violent crime in general also dropped during that timeframe, The Washington Post reported.

“The curfew was not meant to be punitive to our children, but to require parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles … to step up and do what was necessary to protect our kids,” Alsobrooks said in 2022.

Prince George's County Public Schools Superintendent Millard House II also spoke at the Thursday morning news conference and said school leaders stand behind the county executive and law enforcement partners.

"We'll do our part to make sure our families are aware of this curfew. It takes a village," he said.