CHICAGO CITY HALL (WBBM Newsradio) -- Chicago leaders may be inching closer to agreeing on a strategy to crack down on those so-called "teen takeovers."
Public Safety committee chair and Downtown alderman Brian Hopkins told colleagues during a meeting here at City Hall on Thursday that the issue of unauthorized gatherings of young people are not specific to Chicago.
"They've occurred in Memphis, Nashville, Miami ... and they're spreading," Ald. Hopkins (2nd Ward) said. "We're looking at the best practices for some of these jurisdictions and their dispersal techniques."
Ald. Hopkins has worked for months on a measure that would give police commanders new authority to impose a stricter curfew on an affected area before young people show up. A previous proposal that would have let police impose a curfew with 30 minutes notice was vetoed last year by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
A second proposed ordinance would fine social media companies that do not take down posts promoting those gatherings. The sponsor of that ordinance, South side alderman William Hall, told colleagues he and others are set to meet Monday with representatives from Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to discuss the measure.
"They'll be sitting at the table to hear our expectations as a city, and our concern as a city, and then we'll be responding to what they put on the table," said Ald. Hall (6th Ward). "We want them to adhere to their guidelines."
Ald. Hopkins said he expects a new version of the curfew proposal to be ready for a vote for the committee's next meeting. Ald. Hall told colleagues he's hopeful about progress on the social media piece.
Ordinances on curfews, social media promotion see refinements
Ordinances on curfews, social media promotion see refinements
