Friday's juvenile brawls across Southwest leads to increased DC Police presence in area

WASHINGTON (7News) — 7News looked into what caused a massive brawl with large groups of juveniles in Southwest and Navy Yard. The incident occurred on Friday evening, prompting an extensive police response and blocking roads. The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) provided an update Saturday, stating:

It is unclear whether the large groups in Navy Yard and Waterfront last night had any affiliation with events at National Harbor. MPD is still investigating.

On Friday, the Prince George's Police Department (PGPD) stated that it did not order the closure of the outlets. Tanger outlets posted on their website that the outlets were closed due to the area activity around 5 p.m.

7News reached out to MPD again Saturday to ask if there were further arrests or details.

In an email, MPD said, “It’s unclear if there was any organization to these groups. This was multiple groups in both Southwest and Navy Yard. MPD continues to investigate.”

7 News also inquired about the implications of an increased police presence following Friday’s incident. MPD stated that a high number of officers would be deployed to those areas.

RELATED | 6 arrested after in Navy Yard after incidents involving large groups of juveniles

7News spoke to ANC member Nic Wilson for Navy Yard, who pointed out that this incident occurred on the last day of spring break and that the city needs to get a grip on the kids before the summer.

“We hope the council and the mayor can get them more resources so that they can have more people, more people, less crime,” Wilson said.

“As budget cuts occur, we see the same resources that help keep kids entertained and keep them at home we see those get cut first. It’s really painful to see, and my request to the mayor and the council would be to look after this demographic, the 12 to 19.”

MPD said a fight between juveniles sprawled across the Southwest and Navy Yard neighborhoods Friday night.

“We go through this every year during the school months,” Wilson said. “Kids are generally in school for the most part- but when kids don’t have school, that tends to be when we have the bulk of the trouble.”

Wilson said Navy Yard commissioners meet monthly with the MPD to discuss issues in the area. After this incident, Wilson said he plans to approach the council about what they plan to do to keep kids active and out of crime.

“There’s a gap between our younger kids, there’s parks and things for them to get into. Once you reach 12 and 13 up to 19, there’s really not a lot of things for kids to do, so they find trouble,” Wilson said.

Police said they made five arrests for disorderly conduct and another for assault on a police officer Friday night. No additional arrests were made on Saturday.

Just over a week ago, the mayor and the MPD chief announced the creation of a new unit to tackle juvenile crime. That unit is expected to start responding by the end of the month. MPD stated that it will maintain an increased presence in the area. 7 News inquired about what that would entail, and the department stated that a high number of officers would be deployed to those areas.