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Dear Neighbor,

We must continue to ensure our kids are engaged in positive activities and opportunities to support their development and public safety for all neighbors. Unfortunately, over the weekend, a large group of young people gathered on Halloween night in the Navy Yard, and it escalated into fights breaking out and groups disrupting traffic. In order to disperse the crowd, hundreds of officers were dispatched to the scene, and five arrests were made. In response, Mayor Bowser enacted a limited juvenile curfew in the District on Saturday night that lasts until 11:59pm on Wednesday, November 5th. Incidents like this weekend are another reminder of how important it is to both invest in spaces and opportunities for kids and to empower the police Chief to be able to declare juvenile curfew zones when we have intel of planned fights. l have introduced legislation to give the Chief authority to declare these juvenile curfew zones and the Council is voting on it tomorrow. You can watch the votes here.

Last Thursday, I held a public roundtable to discuss the emergency juvenile curfew legislation we had in place over the summer that was aimed at preventing these kinds of unsafe behaviors. In certain areas where MPD is aware that large groups of young people are intending to engage in harmful activity, the emergency legislation authorized the Chief of Police to declare an earlier juvenile curfew zone as early as 8 pm for groups of 9 or more kids without supervision. While the vast majority of young people in our city are engaging in productive and safe activity, the Council must pass my emergency legislation to extend the juvenile curfew during tomorrow’s legislative meeting so that MPD has this preventative tool to respond to the limited instances of harmful activity. Over the summer, we had seven juvenile curfew zones designated around DC and MPD had zero curfew violations and zero arrests. I urge my colleagues to support this preventative tool during tomorrow’s vote. The mayor has also proposed a permanent version of this bill, and I will hold a hearing on it on December 4th.  

There was also a lot of discussion during my roundtable about the need for more public spaces for young people -- and I agree. That’s why earlier this year I introduced the Expanding Community Access to Safe and Clean Recreational Space Act of 2025 to ensure our young people have fun safe spaces to gather during evenings and weekends. The bill was referred to the Committee on Facilities, and I hope it will hold a hearing on my important bill soon.

Additionally, as the federal government shutdown enters its fifth week, I recognize the economic hardship and uncertainty this leaves for so many District families and individuals. As the federal Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) faced a Nov. 1 cutoff from the administration, Mayor Bowser authorized local DC funding to ensure residents enrolled in SNAP and WIC will continue to receive the assistance through the month of November. On Friday, a federal judge also ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute SNAP funds as soon as possible from contingency funds. Today, the administration said it will fund half of November SNAP benefits following the court rulings. These hardships and uncertainties are yet another example of the real harms that happen to Washingtonians and Americans when the federal government is shutdown and we continue to urge Congress to open the government and deliver services and resources to our neighbors who rely upon them.

Yours in service,

Brooke

Legislative Updates

Juvenile Curfew Roundtable

On Thursday, October 30th, the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety held a public roundtable on the extended juvenile curfew and designated juvenile curfew zones in the District. The purpose was to evaluate the success of the implementation of the Juvenile Curfew Emergency Amendment Act of 2025 that was in place over the summer and consider an extension of the emergency legislation. Around 50 public witnesses testified or submitted testimony including young people, educators, neighbors, and other stakeholders, as well as the MPD Chief and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice.  

This spring, the District experienced several instances of large groups of youth engaging in harmful conduct in multiple areas around DC including the Wharf, Navy Yard, and U Street. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and the Executive have requested the authority to create Juvenile Curfew Zones, extend the curfew to 17-year-olds, and start the curfew hours at 11pm instead of midnight. Granting the MPD Chief and the mayor this authority gave them flexibility in expeditiously responding to safety concerns identified through social media and other means. MPD does not make arrests for juvenile curfew violations, and thus there were zero curfew violation arrests from the juvenile curfew implemented over the summer. You can watch Councilmember Pinto's recap of the roundtable here.

In the Community

Over the last two weeks, Councilmember Pinto and Team Pinto have met with residents, advocacy groups, and local and federal partners across the District, including:

• Dedicating Swann Street to William Dorsey Swann, a formerly enslaved Black queer man widely known as the first reported drag queen who fought for LGBTQ+ rights in the late 19th century

• Holding community office hours at Aslin Coffee to hear from neighbors about ways to keep our communities safe and thriving

• Joining the 38th Annual 17th High Heel Race to celebrate our diversity and love

• Holding community office hours at Mitchell Park Fall Fun Day where neighbors of all ages enjoyed fall festivities  

• Cheering for the Logan Circle Little Goblins Parade ahead of Halloween

• Joining neighbors at the Vermont Ave Baptist Church fall festival for fun and fellowship

• Celebrating the Blessing of the Bikes with Bishop Mariann Budde at the Church of the Ascension & Saint Agnes to honor those we have lost and to bless riders

In the News

WATCH WUSA9: “DC demands answers from Pepco after repeated power outages in Northwest”

“During a DC Council oversight hearing this week, Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who chairs the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee, questioned Pepco officials and city regulators about the recurring outages and the company’s response.

“It’s really important for me today to hold this hearing, get to the bottom of these incidents,” Pinto said. “To not have those messages go out, to not have the Pepco teams go door-to-door informing people when there is an outage is not acceptable.”  

READ WTOP: “DC leaders consider reestablishing youth curfew zones permanently”

“D.C. Council members are hearing from members of the public and law enforcement on the effectiveness of last summer’s youth curfew zones and whether or not it should be put pack in place this winter.

Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto, who chairs the Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, assembled members of the public and local leaders for a roundtable Thursday on the subject.

The council voted to let the curfew zones expire Oct. 5, ending the summerlong emergency legislation that gave the police chief the authority to declare certain parts of the city as expanded juvenile curfew zones.

“Over the summer, during which seven juvenile curfew zones were declared, MPD reported that they had zero curfew violations and zero arrests,” Pinto said. “We also have to make sure that we have tools to prevent these limited instances of disruptive behavior before it occurs.”

WATCH FOX5: “DC Council holds hearing to address city's growing absenteeism crisis in schools”  

“The D.C. Council held a marathon hearing Tuesday to confront the city’s growing absenteeism crisis, with lawmakers and administration officials clashing over how best to respond to students who are chronically missing school...

Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) called the situation a crisis.

"We need to be clear—chronic absenteeism is a public safety and a public health emergency," she said.”

Announcements

LEAF COLLECTION

Reminder: Leaf collection began over the weekend. You can click here to find out when crews will be in your neighborhood.

DC HEALTH LINK

Open enrollment for 2026 is now open through January 31, 2026. Click here to find out more about the healthcare plan options.

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