DETROIT – The Detroit City Council voted 6 to 2 on Tuesday to approve a superseding curfew for minors in parts of downtown and along the riverfront during this year’s Ford Fireworks.
Detroit Police 1st Assistant Chief Franklin Hayes told the council that the expanded curfew for minors — which will take effect at 8 p.m. on June 22 and remain in place until 6 a.m. the following morning — is requested annually by the police department to ensure the safety of the popular downtown event.
Recommended Videos
“I do support the ordinance, I supported it last year and I’m going to continue to support it because it is responsible,” District 2 Councilwoman Angela Whitfield-Calloway said prior to Tuesday’s vote. “The whole intent is to keep people safe.”
However, some council and community members are rejecting that logic, saying it both excludes Detroit youth from a premier city event and penalizes them for others’ bad behavior.
“If we expect bad behavior, we get bad behavior, and this is exactly what we’re saying to our 16- and 17-year-olds,” said Councilwoman Mary Waters on Tuesday.
Council members Waters and Denzel McCampbell were the only “no” votes.
In a Public Health and Safety Committee meeting held on Monday, Hayes pointed to recent incidents at so-called “teen takeovers” across the country as further justification for the measure.
“We’ve seen what’s going on, quite frankly, around the country as recent as this past weekend,” Hayes said. “A neighboring city had to shut down a festival in Dearborn Heights as it relates to these mass gatherings of unsupervised teens.”
Several residents called into that meeting to share their opinions about the proposed change, with many of them speaking out against it.
“People shouldn’t be excluded from their own city, regardless of age,” one resident said.
At Tuesday’s regular council meeting, Hayes said that the expanded curfew is meant to be a deterrent for youth intending to cause trouble, but noted that officers will not be “carding” or seeking out individuals to remove from the event unless they’re doing just that.
Community Violence Intervention groups will also be on-site to help support Detroit police in securing the area and enforcing the curfew, he said.
Any youth who are removed from the event for violating curfew will be reunited with their parents or guardians at the Coleman A. Young Recreation Center, Hayes said.
In the event of rain, the curfew will be in effect for the rain date on June 23, through the following morning.
---> Here’s how to watch the 2026 Ford Fireworks live from Detroit