WASHINGTON — As the conversation over D.C.’s youth curfew continues, a group of nonprofit organizations who make up the Youth Power and Safety Collective are among the staunch opponents of the extension of youth curfew zones.

Since last year, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) has set up areas where those younger than 18 are not allowed to gather in groups of eight or more starting at 8 p.m. 

The emergency legislation that allows the District to enact these is set to expire on April 15, which falls during DC Public Schools’ spring break. 

“We’ve heard time and time again from the council, that they’re trying to stop these large youth gatherings,” says Naïké Savain, co-director of D.C.’s Black Swan Academy, who is part of the collective. “Well, those haven’t been stopped by the curfew. They’ve been happening regardless of these youth curfews being declared.”

The curfew zones were in response to what are commonly being known as teen takeovers, large gatherings of kids and teenagers that are being promoted on social media. Neighbors have complained about the disturbances caused by the young people, but in some cases there have been arrests for gun possession and robberies involving teens. 

Savain not only works with youth, she also lives in D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood, where MPD has routinely established youth curfews zones. She has also volunteered with other members of the collective to show up to curfew zones to make sure kids and teens are getting home safe and to monitor the interactions with law enforcement officers. Savain credits the District’s Department of Parks and Recreation, for their programming catered to D.C. youth. 

“It’s wonderful, the kids are really been enjoying them and we think having more than one a night, in different parts of the city, could help draw young people to different parts of the city, and have more manageable crowd sizes,” Savain said. 

She said the release of the large crowds of teens can turn chaotic. Savain says the youth receive mixed messages as they are leaving the city-run events. 

Video obtained by WUSA9 from last weekend shows police officers turning kids away at the Navy Yard metro station where the curfew zone was set up. In some instances, several officers are asking one person multiple questions and then eventually the teens are turned away and sent down the escalator back into the metro station. 

“You ain’t got to go home, but you got to get the hell out of here,” an officer is heard saying in the video.

“There’s a lot of panic and confusion for young people who know that the curfew is also happening at the same time,” Savain said. 

She admits that even as an adult, the situations make her anxious which is why she says teens are seen running away in large crowds. 

“So they start to run because they’re afraid,” she added. 

ANC Commissioners in Navy Yard have advocated for the continued extension of the curfew zones, which they call a minimal tool for a big problem. 

Some neighbors have even suggested more extreme measures. “Lock them up!” a neighbor who only identified herself by her first name, Gwen, told WUSA9. 

“Actually putting young people behind bars, even temporarily, even for a few hours has negative consequences on their psychological wellbeing, sometimes on their physical wellbeing,” Savain says. 

MPD has insisted that the goal of the stricter curfew is not incarcerating young people.  

The DC Council is set to vote on emergency legislation to extend curfew zones through spring and summer on April 21, but it is still unclear if they have the nine votes necessary to get this approved. 

That same day, councilmembers will vote on making curfew zones permanent. 

Mayor Muriel Bowser has also announced D.C. is investing $2 million in grants for 30 organizations in D.C. to expand summer programming this summer. Her office says they expect this to serve more than 1,300 young Washingtonians.