Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will likely blame this on guns from other states.
Chicago saw 40 people shot last weekend, including 11 fatally. Independence Day weekend witnessed 100 people shot and 18 dead.
It is not getting better in Chicago.
Remember last summer when Lightfoot told former President Donald Trump not to send help to Chicago as people vandalized and ransacked stores and shot up the city? Remember seeing people destroy beautiful Michigan Avenue?
I think she eventually caved, but still. At first, she was like, no way.
Lightfoot changed with President Joe Biden! Now “she welcomes federal help in addressing gun violence in the city” without skipping a heartbeat:
Lightfoot, speaking at a press availability, says that she supports a variety of federal responses to the problem of gun violence, including additional “strike force” teams offered by President Joe Biden, along with resources from the FBI and other agencies.“We’ve been in conversation with them about our sense of urgency around getting these resources up and activated,” she said. “I think the primary thing they’re going to do is really build upon the work that’s already being done in conjunction with our federal partners and CPD.”
Well, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) will need help because it’s losing police officers in record numbers:
More Chicago police officers have retired this year than in all of 2018.That’s according to the latest figures from the police pension board, which show that, from January through June, 363 officers have left the Chicago Police Department, and another 56 are expected to retire in July.“We are on track, I believe, to have one of the highest retirement numbers in the city’s history,” says Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), a frequent critic of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.The department — which has roughly 13,000 sworn officers — had 560 retirements in all of 2020, 475 in 2019 and 339 in 2018.
Lopez points the finger at Lightfoot. He said her “anti-police rhetoric” has “demoralized police and scared off potential recruits.”
Lopez told The Chicago Sun-Times: “Many of our officers are not choosing to leave law enforcement as a profession but are retiring early to go to other departments because they don’t feel appreciated and respected in their home city of Chicago.”
Chicago police union president John Catanzara backed up Lopez’s comments:
John Catanzara, president of the Chicago police union, says there’s also been an exodus of young cops who haven’t been with the department long enough to qualify for retirement benefits. Some have fewer than 10 years on the job but want to move to other police departments because they’re “absolutely miserable,” according to Catanzara.He says those young officers take leaves of absence until they can get hired elsewhere because they’re sick of working 12-hour shifts, having days off canceled and being under what he describes as a constant threat of punitive action.“You are literally treated like a rented mule and ridden until you can’t go any more,” the union president says. “Today’s hero, tomorrow’s zero.”
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