Chicago alder considers fining parents over teen takeovers
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Police cruisers line up near North Avenue Beach Monday. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
Several large "teen takeovers" over Memorial Day weekend have lawmakers reexamining how to stop them.
Why it matters: Organized teen gatherings have led to gridlock, violence and, in some cases, deaths — while also drawing national attention to Chicago's public safety debate.
- Trump said the mayor and governor should ask for help.
The latest: Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) wants the City Council to strengthen an existing ordinance that holds parents accountable.
- The ordinance allows parents to be fined for "contributing to the delinquency of a minor" if their children engage in criminal activity, including curfew violations. It is a Class A misdemeanor.
- Hopkins is up for modernizing the ordinance or starting a new one. "A parental accountability ordinance is for parents who just keep allowing their 14-year-olds to be out on the streets at 3am," Ald. Hopkins tells Axios. "There's no excuse for it."
Zoom in: Mayor Brandon Johnson — who has largely opposed punitive approaches toward teenagers — also embraces the idea of parental responsibility, but stopped short of getting behind Hopkins' plan.
- After Sunday's post-prom gathering on the Near West Side led to injuries to police officers and several arrests, Johnson said it's "on parents and guardians to know where their children are and to help ensure they are safe and accounted for."
Reality check: Some legal scholars argue penalties against parents may not survive court challenges because the parents themselves did not commit crimes.
Between the lines: The takeovers are becoming a political distraction for Johnson as he tries to highlight declines in violent crime.
- The chaos surrounding those events has muted the news that Chicago recorded no homicides from Saturday to Monday, a feat not seen in the city for more than 15 years.
Flashback: Johnson has tried to thread the needle between avoiding vilifying teens and still projecting toughness on crime.
- He vetoed a rolling curfew proposal last summer and expanded the city's youth summer jobs program.
- At the same time, he's repeatedly stressed that teenagers who commit crimes will face consequences.
- Earlier this year, Ald. William Hall (6th) suggested that the city punish social media companies for failing to crack down on teens who promote takeovers on their platforms.
Yes, but: Some parents are already trying to intervene. In April, Hyde Park parents organized a "parent takeover," with community members and business owners patrolling 53rd Street's commercial corridor to discourage a planned teen gathering.
Friction point: That hyperlocal approach only goes so far. Parents can patrol their streets, but they are unable to prevent massive gatherings like the one at nearby 57th Street Beach, because it's a much larger space that's harder to control.
- The same challenge applies to downtown takeovers, where crowds are larger and more dispersed.
What's next: Hopkins says he'll bring a new ordinance before the council's public safety committee in June.
The bottom line: Some City Council members increasingly see parental accountability as one of the few remaining tools to curb Chicago's massive teen gatherings.
- "Holding parents accountable is just one of the legs of the stool that you need to fight teen takeovers," Ald. Hopkins adds, pointing to curfews and social media crackdowns. "We can do a much better job preventing them from happening, and a much better job dispersing them when they do."
Editor's note: The story was updated to include quotes from Ald. Hopkins.