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-Great Cultural Revolution
Chicago mayor needs to dump police boss if ‘crime pandemic' isn't addressed, critic says
2021-11-21
[FoxNews] Mayor Lori Lightfoot claims the "root causes" of crime are complex -- and accuses a city alderman of being "ill-informed" about the topic.

During the past month or so, thieves have struck at least seven times at stores in the city’s most upscale neighborhoods, according to the station.

George Cardenas, a city alderman, says such incidents are part of a "crime pandemic" sweeping the city. That pandemic also includes a murder rate that is up 3% so far over last year and 59% over 2019, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

That rise in murders comes despite Chicago police Supt. David Brown making a murder-rate drop one of his chief goals after taking the job in April 2020, the newspaper reported.

Chicago has also seen nearly 4,000 people shot this year, also an increase from last year. And carjackings are up more than 30%, with more than 1,800 such incidents this year, the Sun-Times reported.

Cardenas is calling on Mayor Lori Lightfoot to dump Brown and his leadership team if the situation doesn’t improve soon.

"They need to step it up in a big way and stop this crime pandemic themselves," Cardenas told the Sun-Times last week. "They need to find a way to recruit more people. That’s on them. The mayor can only do so much."

"You’ve got to make changes when things aren’t working out," he added later.

Lightfoot, however, dismissed the criticism from Cardenas, blaming the city’s crime problem, in part, on the coronavirus pandemic.

The crimes have occurred mostly in the Magnificent Mile area, the popular shopping and tourism area that includes Michigan Avenue and nearby streets in the downtown section.

Other crimes have taken place in the Near North Side district, a short distance away from the Magnificent Mile.

Lightfoot, a former Chicago Police Board president, supported Brown for the city’s top police job after his predecessor, Eddie Johnson, was found drunk inside his vehicle in 2019.

But some city aldermen have complained that Brown has been too low-profile during important incidents such as a police-involved shooting of a 13-year-old boy.

The mayor defended her appointee by noting that all city crime was down under Brown, except for murders, shootings and carjackings, the Sun-Times reported.

Posted by:Skidmark

#1  The mayor needs to be dumped.
Posted by: Bubba Lover of the Faeries8843   2021-11-21 21:35  

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