Youth Power & Safety Collective Urges D.C. Council to Reject Harmful Curfew Extension
March 27, 2026
Washington, DC — As the D.C. Council considers extending the juvenile curfew zone emergency law, DC organizations Advancement Project, Anti-Racist DC, Black Swan Academy, Critical Exposure, DC Action, DC Girls’ Coalition, Life Reign, Crown Inc., EmpowerEd, Guns Down Friday, The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project, and United Leaders 4 Freedom issued the following joint statement:
We oppose the proposed expansion of youth curfews in DC and the continued attempts by Councilmember Brooke Pinto to use emergency legislation to circumvent the voice of youth and the overwhelming opposition to this ineffective tactic.
To be clear: curfews do not create safety. They criminalize young people, particularly Black youth, for simply existing in their community and city. They push them out of public spaces, increase unnecessary contact with police, and ignore the real conditions that lead to harm in the first place.
The Youth Power & Safety Collective – Advancement Project, Anti-Racist DC, Black Swan Academy, Critical Exposure, DC Action, DC Girls’ Coalition, Life Reign, Crown Inc., EmpowerEd, Guns Down Friday, The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project, and United Leaders 4 Freedom – jointly oppose these actions and legislative attempts to enact them. Since August 2025, we have joined together to support and protect youth during the continued occupation and the constant state of policing and state-sanctioned violence that brings.
The presence of young people is not the crisis. The lack of investment in them is.
It seemed that councilmembers Pinto, Henderson, and others acknowledged as much in November when they said the city needs a comprehensive fix to keep youth safe, including places where young people can “engage in community and socialize and learn how to become engaged citizens and community.”
Yet, instead of resourcing the safe spaces and mental health support that youth consistently request, some members of D.C. Council seemed poised to triple down on surveillance and control. It tells young people that their freedom doesn’t matter, that their presence is suspicious, and that their needs are secondary to ineffective punitive responses.
We stand with youth across the District who have made it clear they are tired of being policed, often inequitably across different parts of the city. Research is clear: youth curfews do not reduce crime and victimization. Also, the implementation of emergency curfew zones over the past few months has also shown its ineffectiveness.
As former Councilmember McDuffie stated, “Curfews do not prevent violence,” and are a “short-term solution” at best. They do not address trauma, neighborhood disinvestment, or the systemic inequities that shape real outcomes in our city. That’s why yet another emergency extension would deepen mistrust and place young people at greater risk of harm through enforcement, without proper opportunities for all voices to be heard on what real solutions could look like.
Our organizations are aligned and clear: we do not support youth curfew zones or their unwarranted extension.
As Councilmember Parker stated, “We need a youth agenda.” Council members have talked the talk. Now, it’s time to walk the walk. If the Council is serious about safety, it must invest in the demands our youth continue to call for:
We call on District leaders to stop advancing policies rooted in punishment and instead invest in and follow the leadership of young people themselves.
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Advancement Project is a next-generation, multi-racial civil rights organization. Rooted in the great human rights struggles for equality and justice, we exist to fulfill America’s promise of a caring, inclusive and just democracy. We use innovative tools and strategies to strengthen social movements and achieve high impact policy change. We are a co-convener of the National Campaign for Police Free schools, a formation of 20+ youth-led grassroots organizations fighting to end the criminalization of youth in the classroom, create liberatory educational spaces, and implement an affirmative vision of safety and transformative justice. Visit www.advancementproject.org to learn more.
The Black Swan Academy empowers Black youth in under-served communities through civic leadership and engagement, giving them a comprehensive set of tools needed to succeed in life and become active social catalyst in their communities. We are committed to creating a pipeline of Black youth leaders that are committed to transforming themselves, as well as their communities.
The Youth Power & Safety Collective is a citywide collaboration between youth-led and youth-serving organizations building a DC where youth are safe, powerful, and free. We were created in response to the safety concerns and increased holistic needs exacerbated by the continued overpolicing and excessive law enforcement action that disproportionately attacks Black & Brown youth in the District.
