Disruptive Kids At The Waterfront

It's time for a hard crackdown

Ok, so the mayor issued an executive order establishing teenager curfews. How much teeth, is there in its enforcement? We’ll see. I spend a lot of time in the city, and I’m going to a couple of events this week, a gala, and an urbanist organization, Greater Greater Washington’s birthday celebration. It’s being held at a facility in the newly developed Waterfront district, of Washington, DC. I’d like it to be safe. Somehow, the DC Waterfront area, seems to attract an unsavory “clientele,” who engage in what is called “hooliganism,” in Great Britain. Here we just call it out of control teenagers, because that’s exactly what it is.

The problem with the curfew that the city imposes, is that there is not enough “teeth” in its enforcement. You bust out of control teenagers for violating curfew, and they laugh in your face. The reason being: They will be released into the custody of their parents, or parent, which is more than likely. The next thing you know, they will be back on the street, engaging in the same destructive behavior.

If you are going to have a curfew you have to make the consequences for violating it, a very unpleasant experience. You arrest them, and hold them over night in jail. You release them to their parents, or parent, the next day, with a summons to appear in court. The parent(s) or guarding should also be summoned to court, in order to explain to the judge, why they can’t control their kid. Legally, you are responsible for a minor’s behavior, when you are the parent or guardian.

Yes, curfew violation should require a court appearance. If it’s a second offense, there should be a mandatory ten days in a juvenile facility. If it is a third and/or subsequent offence, there should be a mandatory one-year term. There should also be some legal sanctions directed at the parent or parents, starting with the first offense.

The problem is, these kids that are causing havoc in our cities, have never had sufficient discipline in the home, and have developed a “Lord Of The Flies” mentality. Nobody has ever told them, “No.” It’s time someone did.

Here’s an alternative, that used to be used by more than a few judges, during the Viet Nam war. It’s sometimes referred to as, “judicial draftee.” It’s legality is questionable, by some sources, and legal from some. Who knows…

It goes like this: The judge says, “I’m going to offer you a wonderful chance to excel, and offer you a way to keep your record clean. Now you can go to jail for a year, and have a record for the rest of your life (yes, juvenile records can be used when you are applying for a high-level security clearance) you may find that this behavior will follow you around for the rest of your life.

“Here’s your choice: a year in a juvenile boot camp facility (yes, bring them back) complete with a criminal record, or you can go through real boot camp, and serve a four-year enlistment in the US Military. The various military recruiters, are in the room next door. It would be in your best interest to go see one of them, and sign up for a hitch. When you complete your first enlistment, and either get out or stay in, your record, and well as the record of your arrest, will be expunged, when you have an Honorable Discharge, from the service you have chosen.” Yes, it will take waivers on the military’s part, but you can get anything in the military done, if you get the right person to sign the right piece of paper.

I was in the Air Force for twenty-six years. I’ve seen waivers for just about everything, including a stress waiver, which allowed the individual to be over their maximum allowable weight.

I saw quite a few kids from rough parts of town, enlist, stay in for a career (twenty years minimum), and retire as E-8s or E-9s, with a bachelors and/or a masters degree paid for by Uncle Sam, and a successful second career, either in government, or in the private sector. The other “opportunity” was prison. Sometimes you just need a good, swift, kick in the ass, in order to straighten out the foresaid ass, that the ass is attached to. Once you get the crime under control, the other parts of having great schools, and a reasonable cost of living can be achieved.

You aren’t going to get folks to move back into the city, unless you can provide a safe living environment. You aren’t going to get families to move from the suburbs into the city, when the offerings are “new luxury townhomes, starting in the mid to upper 900s” Yes, that’s $950,000 and up. That’s a subject for another essay.