Chicago alderman revives curfew plan with longer police notice window

Chicago alderman proposes new curfew

Chicago Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) is back with another curfew proposal — one that would give police the authority to declare curfews at any public space, at any time of day, to curb teen group violence. And he says this proposal is different than a “snap curfew."

CHICAGO - Chicago Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) is back with another curfew proposal — one that would give police the authority to declare curfews at any public space, at any time of day, to curb teen group violence. And he says this proposal is different than a "snap curfew."

What we know:

Hopkins' previous proposal would have given police 30 minutes to declare a curfew at any time or place, and warn teenagers about it.

This time he is proposing what he calls a "time and place curfew" that would give police 12 hours to declare a curfew and notify the public.

"You would need at least 12 hours from the time a decision is made to impose a temporary time and place curfew, to the start time that curfew would take effect," Hopkins told Fox 32 Chicago.

Hopkins' last proposal drew opposition from groups like the ACLU and Mayor Brandon Johnson. He says he compromised in the hopes that the mayor might support this version.

"In most of the cases we've had this curfew conversation, we've had at least 12 hours of notice, so we really didn't need the 30-minute window," Hopkins said.

The backstory:

The revised proposal comes in the wake of last month's killing of 14-year-old Armani Floyd during a teen takeover in the Loop, after thousands were downtown for the annual tree lighting ceremony. Hopkins says police had more than 12 hours’ notice via looking at social media that a takeover was likely. He says his ordinance might have prevented the violence — noting that police stepped in and enforced the current 10 p.m. curfew to some effect that night.

"They started making announcements about 20 minutes before they started enforcing the curfew. Some of the teens heard the announcements and decided to leave. The ones that didn't, we started making curfew apprehensions. It had a quelling effect on the violence. It actually worked."