The federal government has announced a "summer surge" in Washington, D.C. that contains two alarming proposals — and neither was discussed with the city's own elected leaders before Friday's announcement.

First: U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro says parents will now face criminal prosecution if their children violate the youth curfew. "Parents, do your jobs, or we will do ours," she said. Second: federal officials are requesting up to 5,000 National Guard troops for D.C.'s streets — nearly doubling the current presence — along with a doubling of Homeland Security agents in the city.

Both proposals are deeply flawed. The youth curfew begins at midnight, but most of the large youth gatherings officials say they're targeting happen before 10 p.m. Only 47 juveniles have been taken into custody for curfew violations across all of D.C. so far this year. And overall, crime in the city has been going down.

Even DC Mayor Muriel Bowser questioned the parent prosecution plan, saying she didn't know whether MPD had the resources to enforce it. Neither she nor the Metropolitan Police Department were consulted before the announcement. When asked why, a federal official said simply: "This is the president's task force."

That answer is not good enough. Criminalizing parents for their children's behavior — under a curfew that doesn't even cover the hours when most incidents occur — is not a public safety solution. And deploying thousands of federal troops into a city without the consent of its elected government is not partnership. It is imposition.

We are calling on U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and the DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force to abandon the parent prosecution policy, halt the request for 5,000 National Guard troops, and commit to working with DC's elected leaders — not around them — on any public safety measures this summer.

Sign to say NO to both.

Photo: Mark Schiefelbein/AP