Chicago police are using technology to help combat “teen takeovers” in downtown, while officials weigh changing up curfews ahead of the summer months.
The debate continues after a 14-year-old was arrested and charged with allegedly shooting a 15-year-old during a “takeover” in the Streeterville neighborhood late last month, with officials weighing their options ahead of a City Council debate on the issue.
As part of the response to those takeovers, which have seen hundreds of teens gathered downtown and have resulted in numerous arrests, Chicago police have begun deploying a new tool in which they request that rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft “geofence” rides into areas where the so-called “takeovers” are taking place.
“The rideshare companies do have the ability to geofence and upon request from the Chicago police department, they have said ‘shut down this particular area,’” Ald. Brian Hopkins said. “We’ve seen in some of these trends SUVs pulling up with as many as 15 kids packed into it. That is an unsafe practice, and that needs to stop.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office has confirmed to NBC Chicago that the strategy has been deployed by police in specific circumstances.
“The city (has) also employed highly-targeted geofencing to prevent large crowds from gathering during the publicized time of the event,” Johnson’s office said in a statement. “As a result, the city was able to prevent the large gathering from taking place at two of the three anticipated locations.”
Riders can skip the warnings and still accept rides into the area, but Hopkins said that he believes that option will rarely be utilized.
Chicago Politics
“Frankly if you’re going to dinner in the middle of a teen trend, you don’t want your Uber to drive in the middle of it,” he said.
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Hopkins is also spearheading a push to move the city’s curfew for children from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m., a piece of legislation that has sparked pushback and faces an uncertain future in front of the City Council.
“A 14-year-old shot a 15-year-old on the streets of downtown. I don’t see how anyone can hear that and not realize that we must act,” he said.
Johnson has opposed changing the curfew, arguing that teens need to be given alternative activities and that changing the curfew in downtown would simply move the gatherings to other parts of the city.
“I would question the constitutionality around that. I’m not a constitutional law professor, but if you’re only targeting a particular area, I believe and I see a scenario in which that simply pushes the challenge elsewhere,” he said.
Johnson said his administration is focused on accountability and keeping people safe, but that he wants to explore other solutions to the challenge.
Hopkins argues that cities like St. Louis have implemented earlier curfews and seen positive results. Critics of the change say that resources should be flowing into neighborhoods to give teens constructive outlets, with activists holding numerous events to try to limit the number of “takeovers” that occur in the downtown area.
