Chicago’s mayors and top cops come and go…but Ol’ Man Bloody River keeps rolling along

 

Chicago’s mayors and top cops come and go…but Ol’ Man Bloody River keeps rolling along

 

I’ve lived my entire 78 years in and around Chicago. That time encompassed 12 mayors and 25 police chiefs. Why so few mayors? Two words: Daley, Daley. 

 

While there are ebbs and flows to violent crime, nothing much has changed in all 78 years. Whenever there’s a slight downtick, the mayor and police chief trumpet the news at a press conference. Upticks get silence. 

 

 

Maybe he’s figured out what I’ve been arguing for years. It will take major federal intervention to address the drivers of shootings, robberies, burglaries, carjackings and muggings. 

 

The city cannot make a dent in the untold thousands of guns carried by lawbreakers in cars and on foot. 

 

The city still hasn’t reopened the 12 desperately needed mental health centers closed 11 years ago to balance the budget. The cost and suffering from crimes committed by untreated damaged souls likely dwarfs the savings achieved. 

 

The city can’t provide the many thousands of jobs to disaffected youth shut out from the lawful economy. The double digit unemployment rate in underserved communities makes a mockery of our heralded 3.9% nationwide. 

 

The city cannot even fill police vacancies that result in woefully unprotected public citywide.

What’s truly needed is a federal Marshall Plan for America’s big cities where crime drones on year after year with absolutely no effective local solutions. 

 

So I can’t fault Mayor Johnson for not overpromising in a city that will likely see an average of 40 shootings with 10 killed every one of the 208 weeks of his mayoral term. 

 

Are you listening Uncle Sam?