Teen crime flashpoint at DC Metro -- beware

by YankeeJim | August 8, 2010 at 06:57 am

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Teens 15 and under should not be out after 11 PM

When I was a kid, I had to be in by 10 PM at the latest in my own neighborhood. That was the parents’ rule.

In the late 1960’s, there was much urban unrest and I remember curfews being set for teens and college students. They did not call it profiling, but that was it. Young people on the street at a late hour spell trouble.

Now, “DC Council members” say they don’t want a curfew and they are afraid of “profiling.”

Well, here is a profile for you. DC doesn’t need council members who are so inept and incompetent that they can’t keep the nation’s capital safe for workers and visitors. DC has been a national disgrace for years and one only needs to look at the Mayor and council leadership as indications about why.

For a long time, DC had a drug addict for mayor. He is still on the council. Let’s profile the rest of the city leadership and see what they bring to the table. Are they making a positive difference, or are they problem?

“Rider recounts 'frightening' teen fight on Metro

By Ann E. Marimow and Martin Weil

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Billy Fettweis of Capitol Hill was planning to catch Metro home after a late dinner at Gallery Place on Friday when he got caught up in a massive brawl that officials say involved as many as 70 people, led to three arrests and put four people in the hospital.

"It was very frightening. We didn't know what was happening," said Fettweis, 24, whose companion was pushed out of a train car and knocked to the ground. "Who were these people?"

Metro Transit Police have charged three District teenagers in the fight that began at the Gallery Place Station about 11 p.m., continued on the train and spilled onto the platform for the Green and Yellow lines at L'Enfant Plaza Station. It is unclear how many people in the crowd were fighting.

The Gallery Place neighborhood in Northwest Washington has become a popular hangout for teenagers, and the D.C. police department has enhanced its presence in the area.

D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) said he thinks the answer is an earlier curfew. District residents 17 and younger have to be off the streets by midnight in the summer. Wells proposed an 11 p.m. curfew for people 15 and younger, but most of the council members opposed the move, with some saying that it could lead to profiling.”