Ald. Hopkins waters down curfew ordinance, again, to appease Mayor Brandon Johnson

Ald. Brian Hopkins revised his teen curfew ordinance yet again Wednesday — this time to appease Mayor Brandon Johnson — but failed to get it through the City Council amid complaints it was more like a legislative placebo.

The newly revised ordinance would empower Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to do what he did on New Year’s Eve — make a “dispersal declaration for the applicable public places anticipated to be affected” by a “disruptive youth gathering” whenever police have probable cause to believe there is potential for mayhem or violence.

“The officer shall not issue a citation or make an arrest or take a minor into custody… unless the officer reasonably believes that an offense has occurred,” the proposed measure states.

“If we’ve got situation downtown like we did a few weeks ago where a child went to the morgue instead of going home, what does this do to prevent that from happening?” said Ald. Matt O’Shea (19th), whose Far Southwest Side ward is home to scores of Chicago police officers.

“What I’m reading is this is something to placate," O'Shea continued. "What does this do to give the Chicago Police Department a tool to help them prevent another kid from getting shot and killed in a gang conflict in downtown Chicago? A superintendent’s dispersal order? It sounds to me like, `Go to the corner young man for the rest of class today.’“

Hopkins (2nd) denied that the ordinance was watered down to to avert another mayoral veto, but agreed to hold it in the Committee on Public Safety he chairs for further debate.

“The point of a curfew is to disperse the youth. So we’re accomplishing the same goal, just with a different tool,” Hopkins said. “A dispersal order does the exact same thing as enforcing a curfew does… It’s not an arrest. They’re not booked. They’re not fingerprinted. They’re not mug-shotted. Nothing. They just get taken to the police station, held in protective custody until the responsible adult comes and gets them.”

Last year, the City Council voted 27-22 to approve a snap curfew ordinance that would have authorized Snelling to declare three-hour curfews anywhere in the city with just 30 minutes notice. Johnson vetoed the snap curfew ordinance and made it stick by preventing a 34-vote override.

But the Downtown shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy after Chicago’s annual Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in late November sent Public Safety Committee Chair Brian Hopkins back to the drawing board. He dropped the “snap” part of the curfew in hopes of preventing another mayoral veto.

Hopkins agreed to lengthen the notice time before a curfew to not less than 12 hours before its implementation, and require police to announce a predetermined expiration time of no more than four hours from the start of the curfew.

On Wednesday, Hopkins introduced a substitute ordinance that was even weaker, and tried to convince his colleagues to approve it even though most of them hadn’t read it. The 12-hour notice was dropped, and there was no reference to time or place.

According to Hopkins' latest version, at least ten minutes before implementing a dispersal order, the incident commander or designee holding the rank of sergeant or above “shall issue a verbal notice” to those at the scene.

“Before taking any enforcement action, a police officer shall ask the apparent violator’s age and reason for being in the public place,” the ordinance states.

Hopkins said he consulted Johnson about his latest proposal, and the Law Department “helped draft it and was involved in making the changes… I assume they were acting with his approval.”

That was clear from the warm reception that Johnson gave to the new version during a news conference that followed Wednesday’s Council meeting.

Johnson said the new version draws a “clear distinction” between young people who are “gathering for pleasure, and those who are interested in causing harm.”

“To be able to make that policy into municipal code — I believe it sets the city up for a stronger, more consistent enforcement,” the mayor said.

Johnson made it clear that dialogue with Hopkins is ongoing and there could be additional changes before a final City Council vote.

“The ultimate goal is to make sure that we’re keeping people safe and, in the event there are individuals that are interested in causing harm, that we can have a tool that prevents that, or strongly enforces the ability to reduce the likelihood of that occurring,” the mayor said.

Johnson said the 12-hour notice was dropped because he was “incredibly concerned about the constitutionality” as well as "this idea that just simply doing something and establishing an arbitrary time would prove to be effective."