Additional juvenile curfew now in effect for Navy Yard

New juvenile curfew now in effect for Navy Yard

D.C. police announced a new juvenile curfew in effect for Navy Yard on Friday. The move comes after the department made dozens of arrests there this past Fourth of July weekend.

WASHINGTON - D.C. police announced a new juvenile curfew on Friday. The move comes after the department made dozens of arrests there this past Fourth of July weekend.

The backstory:

MPD officers have plastered these posters all over the Navy Yard warning of that new curfew.

Officers say there have simply been far too many instances of large groups of kids causing big trouble here, with as many as 100 teens gathering at night.

D.C. police say they made 23 arrests over the holiday weekend — most of them juveniles.

The issue has spanned across D.C., throughout the summer. There was a ‘teen takeover’ in the Navy Yard that happened back in May.

The details:

There is currently a city-wide curfew in effect for kids 17 and under from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The curfew is in effect from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m, for kids in groups of nine or more before the full citywide curfew kicks in at 11 p.m. for all kids 17 and under.

The perimeter of the Navy Yard Juvenile Curfew Zone is as follows:

To the north:I-695 and Virginia Avenue, SE
I-695 and Virginia Avenue, SE
To the east:8th Street from Virginia Avenue to M Street, SE4th Street from M Street, SE to the Anacostia River
8th Street from Virginia Avenue to M Street, SE
4th Street from M Street, SE to the Anacostia River
To the south:M Street between 4th and 8th Street, SEPotomac Avenue, SE and the Anacostia River between South Capitol Street and 4th Street, SE
M Street between 4th and 8th Street, SE
Potomac Avenue, SE and the Anacostia River between South Capitol Street and 4th Street, SE
To the west:South Capitol Street, SE from the Anacostia River to I-695
South Capitol Street, SE from the Anacostia River to I-695

The Navy Yard curfew Zone is just in effect for this weekend, Friday Saturday and Sunday for now but the police dept says they could extend it if behavior they saw last weekend persists.

What they're saying:

"That’s the kind of thing we don’t want to see repeated. It’s just really the behavior was not acceptable. It’s something we can't tolerate in the city. A lot of residents didn’t feel safe. We had to make a lot of arrests, as I mentioned, and we want to get ahead of it," said Commander Colin Hall with the Metropolitan Police Department.

Hall there said D.C. police will initially just educate kids about the curfew and give them warnings, and they hope they’ll all voluntarily comply, but did add that officers could detain kids if they need to.

Some others said they’re not necessarily against this curfew, but they don’t think that’s the only answer. They said they’d like to see these kids supported in other ways, not just sent out of Navy Yard at night.

Word-for-word:

Here's what the press release from D.C. police says.

Chief of Police Pamela A. Smith has announced the establishment of a Juvenile Curfew Zone in the Navy Yard area.

The Juvenile Curfew Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 gives the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department the authority to order a Juvenile Curfew Zone in an area where large groups of youths are gathering or intend to gather in a manner that poses a risk of substantial harm to public safety.

This Juvenile Curfew Zone takes effect at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, July 11, 2025, and will last through 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 13, 2025, when the citywide juvenile curfew will take effect and last through 6:00 a.m. Monday.

Within the Juvenile Curfew Zone, persons 17 and under are prohibited from gathering in a group of nine (9) or more in any public place or on the premises of any establishment unless engaged in certain exempted activities, which are listed here.

The Metropolitan Police Department reminds the public that a citywide curfew remains in effect for all juveniles age 17 and under beginning nightly at 11:00 p.m., lasting until 6:00 a.m. the following morning, through August 31, 2025.

News Navy Yard Washington, D.C.Crime and Public Safety

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