Chicago’s crime problem is about to get worse
by Jack Elbaum, Contributor
July 11, 2023 02:00 PM
Chicago’s crime problem is notoriously bad. And, over the past few years, it has only become more severe. Crime has spiked 88% since 2021 and there are no indications the trend will be reversing any time soon.
Even worse, Chicago’s new mayor, Brandon Johnson, just released a 223-page report titled “A Blueprint for Creating a More Just and Vibrant City for All” that included a truly disastrous “public safety” plan.
The plan, which was inspired by a “struggle rooted in black liberation,” contains no recommendations to increase enforcement of crimes. Instead, it proposes getting rid of a gang database because of "racial disparities,” issuing an acknowledgment of harm toward black and Hispanic residents of the city, “re-envision[ing] the role of a police officer,” and providing mental health services — rather than actual safety — in communities that are "over-policed."
Even that framing of the problem being “over-policed” communities rather than neighborhoods with too much crime indicates that the plan’s focus is not really on taking decisive action to reduce crime.
There is much discussion about “disparities” related to crime victimization rates in the report, but it is unclear how exactly those disparities can possibly be alleviated by doing nothing to make predominantly black neighborhoods safer. In the short term, mental health centers are not going to stop a single shooting by virtue of just being there. Neither will education on, and expansion of, government job opportunities.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/chicagos-crime-problem-is-about-to-get-worse
