Chicagoland police face a summer of discontent

 

It’s been a controversial summer for Chicagoland police as they face intensive scrutiny for controversial behaviors, firings and shootings, and controlling crime across the metropolitan area, especially on Chicago's fabled El trains, and the firing of Robert Boik, Chicago Police Department, executive director of constitutional policing and reform, which sent shockwaves through the law enforcement community.

The late July detention and beating of a young Palestinian American boy seemed to be the catalyst for yet another charge of police brutality by police in Palos Hills, Illinois as they stopped a car without a front license plate and the aroma of cannabis. While one of the teens cooperated with the search, another 17-year-old Hadi Abuatelah, by Oak Lawn police, allegedly beat him ten times on his shoulders, and also a fractured pelvis and intracranial bleeding among other injuries.

Police have not released the body camera film, but a passerby recorded the incident on her cell phone, in a one minute footage, that also prompted cries of outrage against excessive force on the teen who appeared to weigh 120 pounds. 

Newsweek reported that the police claim there was no bodycam video, and since the recording only shows the beating, there remain many unanswered questions.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago has joined with Abuatelah's family and has “filed a civil rights lawsuit against the officers and the village, alleging police used excessive force and the officers and department engaged in “racially motivated conspiracy” to deprive the teen of his civil rights,” reported Suburbanchicagoland.com.

An assault gun was found at the scene and there was suspicion that the teen had it in his accessories bag, slung over his shoulder.  One report described the weapon as “a Raven Arms P2 25 25 Caliber Semi Automatic weapon with three rounds of ammunition and a THC Vape cartridge which he later admitted to smoking.”

According to the police statements.after he was captured, Abuatelah tried to keep the bag throughout the incident,

"Regardless of the alleged infraction that led to the arrest, the video clearly shows a restrained teenager in submission, not resisting, being brutally beaten by three officers without justification," Council on American Islamic Relations Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said.

Oaklawn police say that they are conducting their own internal investigation.

According to The New York Times, “Zaid Abdallah, the boy’s lawyer, said that Hadi was a passenger in the vehicle. The lawyer said he did not know what the traffic stop was about or why Hadi had decided to flee.”

Oak Lawn police Chief Daniel Vittorio claimed the officers “feared Abuatelah was reaching for a weapon, and used management ways to launch the teen’s arms.”

 

“You have him subdued,” he said. “If he broke the law, we have a process for that in America. You arrest the person. He goes to bond court. He goes to his preliminary hearing. He goes to trial court. This is the process. The process is not smash his head into the pavement.”

“Regardless of the alleged infraction that led to the arrest, the video clearly shows a restrained teenager in submission, not resisting, being brutally beaten by three officers without justification,” Ahmed Rehab, executive director of CAIR-Chicago, said in a statement. “The issue here is excessive force and police brutality. Something we are seeing again and again and again.”

There are also claims that the teen was tased.

Claims of ongoing racism in this community have acerbated reactions, with the largest community of Palestinians and Palestinian Americans in the country, displaced from the West Bank after Israeli occupation.

In a statement from the AAAN, they said, “In addition to the demand that the three Oak Lawn police officers be fired, the AAAN has also been pressing Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx nonstop for over two weeks to drop the charges against Hadi and instead charge the officers who viciously beat him.”

The next court date is Aug. 25.

Internally, a dust up between CPD Chief David Brown and Robert Boik, erupted after the latter insisted on the terms of the Consent Decree with the Federal government that was made in the twilight of the Obama Administration.

Boik had learned that there were 46 officers that had to be sent back to patrol duties, instead of the required in-service training mandated by the terms of the decree, reported The Chicago Tribune.

“In Boik’s email, which was obtained by the Tribune, he said that if those individuals were moved to patrol, there would be 21 fewer instructors at the academy and the department would no longer be able to offer an eight-hour gender-based violence course to officers this year.”

Furthermore, “The decision would also result in 10 fewer people in the crisis intervention training program, which would diminish the program by about 30%, according to the email. Putting these individuals on patrol would also put a minimum of 8% of the department’s current consent-decree compliance at risk.

“Beyond the consent decree requirement to train our frontline officers, we have a fundamental obligation to ensure all our officers are provided with equal tools to do their jobs in the field. With the proposed cuts, every single officer will fall short of 40 hours of training this year,” Boik wrote in the email.”

The back and forth continued with Brown wanting to address city wide violence and Boik countering that his “email suggested that his staff would be moving to districts all over the city and “therefore will likely have minimal impact on patrol capacity for any one district.”

Praise and disappointment, at the decision, overflowed local media with the Tribune saying, “Arne Duncan, a managing partner of Emerson Collective and the founder of violence prevention organization Chicago CRED, wrote in a statement: “Bob Boik was fired for blowing the whistle and telling the truth — that he has no support and that the administration is not serious about police reform. Trust between the police and community is already far too low, and losing him is a big step in the wrong direction. That is dangerous for our city, for the community and for our police officers.”

There seems to be a pattern arising, and “Chad Williams, the former civilian commanding officer of the Police Department’s audit division, resigned in 2021 after emailing Mayor Lori Lightfoot to say he had been proud to lead the unit but had become disillusioned and was resigning his post.

“Unfortunately, my disappointment with the inability of this department’s top leadership to even feign interest in pursuing reform in a meaningful manner has made it impossible for me to remain involved,” Williams wrote in the email, as previously reported by the Tribune. “

Of the most pressing problems for Chicago is crime, rampant crime with carjacking's, robbery, theft and personal assault. Mayor Lightfoot, placed on the hot seat, has said that there have been improvements and that murders and shootings are down,16 and 18 percent, at the close of the 32nd week of 2022, yet some including Wirepoints and WBBM suggest that those numbers fail to include the baseline year of 2019, just before the Covid pandemic and the murder of George Floyd, the reaction of illegitimate protestors, and those that tagged along to loot and rob.

If that is taken into account, they say, then the numbers look worse, 31 and 33 percent respectively, yet that aside, the public perception that the city is not safe is dominant across the dinner tables and boardrooms of the city, and some companies have left the city such as Ken Griffin’s Citadel to Miami.

WBBM reported that “Lightfoot said her administration’s efforts are bearing fruit, including an 18% drop in homicides over last year.

“But when told many residents still don’t feel safe, she fired back:

“The perception, if it’s not accurately reported by the media, will continue to fuel a feeling that the entire city isn’t safe,” Lightfoot said. “It is important for our residents to know that we have a plan that we have implemented that is showing progress. And it’s critical that the media report that.”

She conceded that a lack of accountability for people who commit gun crimes has also led to more perpetrators feeling bolder about using violence”

The problem is that the plan has not been seen. And, on the city’s iconic El subway system, especially the Red Line, crime is rampant and there have been well documented reports in the media of people with bloodied faces, and passengers fending off gangs with their own weapons, and knives, often resulting in loss of life on both sides.

The police force assigned to the CTA has been reduced and there are concerns in some quarters of over policing that might result in racial profiling, but the volunteer force, and hired guards with dogs, have been mainly used to remove the unhoused, as they seek shelter on trains and buses.

Police have pointed to low ridership, due to Coviid, as being less of a deterrent to crime, but statistics cited are often inconsistent, and the use of the crime database was called, “tricky for all but the most hardcore data nerds to use, said Wirepoints.

There have been long standing issues with crime on CTA trains, for years, but now it has also spread to buses, where last summer, a man riding in broad daylight on a bus, in the River North area, (a gentrified neighborhood), was stabbed by a woman, later determined to be mentally ill.

In May, the situation intensified to the point where Sen. Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and US Rep Jesus “Chuy” Garcia wrote a letter to the CTA, and they said, in part:

“While we appreciate the efforts that both the CTA and Chicago Police Department recently have made to increase passenger and employee safety on trains and buses throughout the CTA’s network, more needs to be done to protect CTA’s frontline workers and passengers given the alarming increase in crime on the CTA system,”

A local station, ABC 7, reported their response, "saying the safety and security of CTA customers and employees is its number one priority,” that many viewers felt was inadequate, as well as evasive.

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Chicago mayoral candidates prepare for a slugfest

With the dust blown from the Illinois primary, all eyes, are looking ahead to the 2023 mayoral primary and who can lead Chicago for the next four years; and, already the candidate field is getting crowded, with former candidates, some who feel that the third time might be the charm to take a job that is often akin to mudslinging, muckraking and misjudgments.

The present incumbent, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who ran as a populist reformer outside of traditional Chicago machine politics, has quickly became a near insider; an unexpected move that took many by surprise, and perhaps even herself, as she roared into office, on a white horse, pennants flying, only to find her ideals trampled into running a toddling town that can become a many headed hydra.

With reversals on an elected school board, a hard kick to aldermanic prerogatives, and a less than stellar record with the city council, including some teeth baring encounters with members has given her a a tough lady rep, in an even  tougher town.

A look in the rearview mirror shows that this has been seen before in City Hall with her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, who was no shrinking violet, and who came to office with the rumor of sending a dead fish to a political enemy, and a string of bruising encounters from the Obama White House, where he served as chief of staff.

It’s now a safe bet that Lightfoot could not make peanut butter sandwiches without criticism from all sides: from the left, there was not enough butter, from the right there was too much and from the independents, that it was not organic.

Her chief nemesis has been Ray Lopez 15th Ward alderman, a candidate as early as April, who has been an outspoken critic, especially in the area of public safety, as Chicago has descended into a violent quagmire with car jackings, robberies, and retail thefts, often by gangs, sometimes even aided by pre-teens.

Now Lopez has rescinded his candidacy, stating that the growing field might lead to a runoff vote that might entrench Lightfoot as mayor, and on Twitter he posted a warning that with “With every new challenger that enters the race, the odds of Lori Lightfoot making it into a runoff, possibly even winning reelection, grows,” and added “Chicago has survived many things over its existence, but it will not survive another four years with this mayor chasing headlines to cover up her nonstop bouncing from bad decision to bad decision.”

Previously, he had said, “As mayor, my core principles will be simple: focus on safely rebuilding our economy and supporting our first responders and city employees that serve the taxpayers of Chicago.”

Block Club Chicago has also noted that “Lopez has a reputation on City Council for being one of the most conservative members, particularly on crime.”

While continuing to run for election as alderman in the 15th ward, his withdrawal has also generated some blowback, from contender Victoria Alvarez whose campaign team issued a statement, just before Thanksgiving, which said, in part, "As a candidate, Raymond Lopez declared he was “all in” on his mayoral bid - but now he is changing his tune. Seeing an uphill battle for the mayor’s office, he has decided to return to the 15th Ward he has neglected and now claims to speak for every resident.

Aldermanic candidate, Victoria “Vicko” Alvarez, rejects his oversimplifications and lack of civic imagination. Vicko gathered more than three times the required amount of signatures by knocking doors in every neighborhood of the 15th Ward."

Another familiar face to locals has been Paul Vallas who was CEO of Chicago Public Schools, from 1995 to 2000, and while with failed prior attempts to win the top job, he has also leaned hard into the crime problem, and has tweeted on several of the more alarming incidents bemoaning the lack of a comprehensive plan by Lightfoot.

An avuncular figure Vallas has been down this road before, and has also railed against high taxes, as well as crime, and, will undoubtedly be seen favorable by the Chicago Teachers Union whose teeth marks can still be found in Lightfoot’s arm as she dealt with the powerful union, in her first month in office; as she fought a public battle with the union.

That was then, and now we have Brandon Johnson a former teacher who has received the endowment of the CTU, as well as the Service Employees International Union, two powerful voice in local politics and whose support puts him in the first slot for attention.

Crime is the key blow against Lightfoot and Vallas like others has also said that he would fire Chicago Police Superintendent, David Brown, Lightfoot’s handpicked police chief who in his early days showed, to some, a naivety, especially in the aftermath of the riots that piggybacked onto the peaceful protests that followed the murder of George Floyd.

His track record is not bright and as Block Club Chicago reported, “In the 2019 mayoral race, Vallas got 5 percent of the vote. He also unsuccessfully ran for Illinois governor in 2002 and lieutenant governor in 2014 with then-Gov. Pat Quinn.”

Taking tack for a candidacy is State Rep Kam Buckner, a spry 37 year old whose diverse 26th District looks like Chicago he has stated, ““The district looks a lot like Chicago,” Buckner said. “… Being in that role has been incredibly telling to me. It’s given me a very clear view into what happens when we have a tale of two cities — what happens when we have robust investment on one hand, and robust disinvestment or benign neglect on the other hand.”

An attorney, he has also worked for Sen. Dick Durbin who gave him some wind in his sails, but in another interview with Block Club Chicago he emphasized. ““We have to find a way to celebrate the places and spaces that we occupy — their diversity, their importance, their significance — but more importantly, the people who live there,”

This is a populist stance, and also alludes to the historic racial segregation in Chicago, but will it be enough, critics ask.

Some also wonder about his past bouts with alcoholism and driving under the influence, but he has affirmed his sobriety by saying, ““In being honest with myself, my God, my family and my friends and my constituents about this, I have arrived on the other side of this a better man, a better father, a better partner and a better public servant, "and added, “There are many things that have changed since these incidents occurred.”

Taking a tough stance, the response from City Hall was this: “Being mayor of Chicago requires the sort of toughness that Kam Buckner hasn't shown in his public life. When others stood up to Madigan and told him it was time to go, Buckner voted to keep him in power. You can’t take on the machine when you’re part of it,” Lightfoot campaign spokesperson Christina Freundlich said in a statement.

His efforts at World Sport Chicago, which he headed in the failed aftermath of Chicago securing the Olympics, proved to be sketchy with some saying that financial contributions declined as his salary soared, while others attribute the loss to the departure of his predecessor Scott Meyers.

What is significant is that Buckner has attributed this organization as part of his past accomplishment and WBEZ summed it up neatly, by saying, “He announced his campaign in May with a “four star” plan that includes “safety and justice,” improved education, economic recovery — as well as stabilizing the city’s long-troubled finances. In his campaign literature, [and] he has touted his time at World Sport Chicago, saying he brought sports to 70,000 students.

Donations and the budget shrank rapidly, they reported, and now spokespeople for the Buckner campaign say that this was by design. This belies assertions that, “To fund that programming, the organization was relying on the lump sum of leftover Olympic money that inevitably decreased year over year. But, under Myers, WSC was also raking in more than $1 million a year in grants and contributions from places such as the MacArthur Foundation, which donated $1,375,000 between 2009 and 2014, to sustain its programming for kids.”

While the waters appear muddied, the past for politicians can come forth to become a nuisance, and whether this will be the case, remains to be seen. But, questions related to whether his salary was outsized according to geographic norms for non profit directors at that time, when the evidence was produced seems to be buried, raising more unwanted questions for a candidate that has an impressive resume.

Coming on strong is another fierce Lightfoot critic Ja’Mal Green, a 27 year old firebrand who has run before, and lost to her, labeling her as incompetent and amidst other invective, a milder rebuke, “This city is in huge disarray!”

In April 2021 Green sent a tweet Green sent a Tweet in April 2021 declaring that “Lightfoot is resigning tomorrow in a stunning end to her mayorship,” turning rumors that were circulating on social media into a political firestorm, reported WTTW.

In response, Lightfoot called his action, “homophobic, racist and misogynistic.”

While this tweet, in hindsight was ill conceived, as well as ill advised, it’s also possible to see that his youthful impulsiveness, as well as a reputation as a l’enfant terrible, could harm his future intentions.

Case in point, shortly after that tweet, WTTW reported that “A month later, Green disrupted a news conference held by Lightfoot to blast her for blocking his effort to build a $15 million youth center on the site of the former Garrett Morgan Elementary School in Auburn-Gresham, which was closed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”

That being said, his association as an acolyte to Bernie Sanders might enhance his resume for progressive voters.

Coming on strong is Jesus "Chuy" Garcia whose late entry has some questioning his wisdom, and that losing the CTU endorsement might hurt him.

Garcia has been in this game before, in 2015, when he was a candidate, running against Rahm Emanuel, and whose last minute endorsement of then candidate Lori Lightfoot, propelled her candidacy and she won the election, Now, with an “anyone but Lightfoot” mantra, older faces are as welcome as new ones, and Garcia, recently re-elected to Congress has a hand in the fire of bruising Chicago politics, where character assassination and dirt digging are only the beginning.

Garcia's avuncular profile might avoid him some of the most serious blows, but he has some baggage, mainly that he endorsed the recently sullied former Speaker of the House, Mike Madigan, whose pay to play with a local utility company has Garcia tagged by some as part of the machine.

If the crowded field for Chicago mayoral candidates looks a bit like the Wild Wild West, then the analogy may fit even more as the elections grow closer.

Updated Nov. 29, 2022, CSDT

Crime on CTA threatens Lightfoot reelection campaign

The burgeoning crime on Chicago's famed El trains, as well as its buses are threatening to be as much a political issue for the beleaguered mayor, Lori Lightfoot, as snow was for former Mayor Bilandic, when he was unseated by mayoral candidate Jane Byrne, as the snow piled on city streets engulfing the city, and stranded motorists, bringing the city to a standstill.

While crime was has not been unknown on the system, the nation’s second largest, in the last several months, it  has increased to an annual increase of 17 percent, and with the recent attack on local WTTW TV host Will Clinger, the attention has come at a time when many businesses are encouraging at least a partial return to offices in the city's business section, the Loop, as well as an increase in business, as employers have ramped up both production and a growing need for workers. 

Many of those workers, especially in a city where car ownership is a luxury, and many low and middle income income workers depend on public transportation, to get to and from work.

While some have suggested that armed police are the answer, others have said that this would be a detriment to the homeless population who depend on it for overnight shelter, while others cite the problem of racial profiling; and, while the mayor and police superintendent, David Brown, have announced a partnership with unarmed guards, trained to deescalate tense situations, others have pooh poohed the idea as unworkable.

There have been long standing issues with crime on CTA trains, for years, but now it has also spread to buses, where last summer, a man riding in broad daylight on a bus, in the River North area, (a gentrified neighborhood), was stabbed by a woman, later determined to be mentally ill.

Lightfoot had promised to open the mental health clinics closed by her predecessor, Rahm Emanuel, but this was not done, and private contractors have assumed the work, only in a partial sense, for some, but for many trying to make appointments has resulted in unanswered phones.

Various social service agencies, hampered by the Covid pandemic, have struggled to fill the void, for the willing, but many cases of mentally ill people remain undiagnosed, and out of reach.

Crime on the trains, includes murders, robberies, assaults, including sexual assaults, has escalated with less eyes and ears, due to rider shortage, after the Covid lockdowns, a 50 percent reduction, and those that can work remotely have done so, or the well heeled have driven to appointments, leaving certain populations vulnerable: students, older adults and the working poor.

Many residents are blaming Lightfoot for her perceived inaction to tackle the crime problem, and some have vowed never to vote for her in the next election. And, she recently, and paradoxically said,, “The CTA is safe.”

Theft, of course, seems to be the primary goal, in these assaults, and smartphones, like Clinger’s, can fetch $200 on the average, from a disreputable dealer, fencing stolen goods. And, in his case, they are often accompanied by accomplices who can intervene, or help in the attacks with broken bottles, pipes, and fists, and as he stated in later interviews, were also present, while he persued the perpetrator.

He was hit in the head, and has subsequently suffered intracranial bleeding.

While the problem is mainly seen on the Red Line, the Blue Line, the lead  path to and from the city, via O’Hare airport has also seen its share of crime.  While many erroneously blame the homeless for the problem, they too are often victimized, when they just want to sleep for a few hours, and avoid shelters that are often violent, even if they are open, and have beds.

The situation has intensified to the point where Sen. Dick Durbin (D) of Illinois and US Rep Jesus “Chuy” Garcia wrote a letter to the CTA, and they said, in part:

“While we appreciate the efforts that both the CTA and Chicago Police Department recently have made to increase passenger and employee safety on trains and buses throughout the CTA’s network, more needs to be done to protect CTA’s frontline workers and passengers given the alarming increase in crime on the CTA system,”

A local station, ABC 7, reported their response, "saying the safety and security of CTA customers and employees is its number one priority,”. that many viewers felt was inadequate, as well as evasive.

Brown, widely criticized for his handling of the city’s racial protests, following the murder of George Floyd, said on Monday, “"We still need to add more resources to our downtown to our CTA as well as to all of our city" 

Lightfoot had also noted, at the same time, that, “Though we are proud to have one of the best transit systems in the country, that reputation and everything we're doing to keep it will mean nothing if CTA customers don't feel safe taking public transportation," and,  "Violence on our transit system must end, as people shouldn't have to fear for their lives when they're commuting around our city. This partnership between CTA and CPD will help to protect them and contribute greatly to our citywide mission to create a safer Chicago."

Things then went from bad to worse when on the far North Side, at the Granville station, a train conductor was pushed overboard, and onto the tracks, by a passenger claiming that he had dropped his phone on the tracks. Shocking as it was, there was also shock as it happened out of the hotspot of the Loop, where much of the CTA crime has occurred, notably the Roosevelt stop.

Block Club Chicago noted the fears of CTA workers when they reported one of the workers who said, of the perps,“They say, ‘I’m going to kill you,’ ‘I’m going to shoot you,’ ‘I’m going to stab you.’ All the time,” said the employee, who has been with the CTA for over 20 years. “I’m leaving in a few years, but the way things are set up right now, I don’t know if I will get out of here alive. That’s just how bad it is.”

Taking a look at some of the recent train related numbers, we can see 205 in the Loop, 61, in the River North [double check this], 40 in Roseland, and 32 in Rogers Park, to name but a few.

While Chicago is not often thought of as a college town, it is the home of the University of Chicago, Roosevelt University, The University  of Illinois at Chicago, the City Colleges of Chicago, whose students often use the CTA, and DePaul University, whose Lincoln Park campus abuts the Red line at the Fullerton stop has now faced a dilemma.

The DePaul student, paper in its online forum noted the increase of CTA crime, they also reported that, "Further findings discovered that 45 of these 285 crimes occurred in the immediate vicinity of DePaul campuses, taking place on the Fullerton platform, Jackson station and platforms and trains at either location”

 

The school has two campuses, one near Fullerton, and the other, downtown, near Jackson.

 

“The 45 occurrences at these locations are up 165 percent from the 17 reported during this period in 2020. This surge comes as no surprise to DePaul students who regularly feel uneasy commuting aboard the CTA.

 

“There’s always something going on,” said sophomore Gabby Iwanska. “I’m a girl in the city, and [safety] is always on our minds. I know a lot of my female friends refuse to even ride the Red Line.”

Illinois Dems approve a massive budget with a surplus

 Burning the near midnight oil, Illinois lawmakers on Saturday morning brought forth a budget closely hewed to Gov. JB Pritzker’s February proposals, one that led to the mandate of a balanced budget, along with relief for taxpayers with spending at $45 billion, and also gives one time payments to individual and married taxpayers, plus rebates to homeowners, and while Republicans have derided the bill as one filled with gimmicks in an election year, nevertheless it does provide significant monies, including refilling a”rainy day” fund that was depleted for nearly two years under the leadership of former Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Pritzker praised the efforts of the Democrats and said, in part, “It honestly felt that we all came into this process committed to a fiscally responsible spending plan that improves our state’s finances and helps people in an hour of genuine need,” no doubt responding to the still lingering problems of Covid and, now, rising inflation.

Of course, no one puts anything less than a concerted effort for a fiscal budget in an election year and with a 73/45 majority in the House and a 41/18 in the state Senate, Democrats are clearly in the driving seat.

One issue that is unaddressed is the $4.5 billion hole in the unemployment fund, and that failure may cost them along the road, during the June 28th primary contest.  The idea is to take $2.7 billion in federal monies form the American Rescue Plan to help pay down that hole which is normally paid down by a self sustaining payroll tax, that went off the rails as more and more Covid related layoffs occurred..

“This action will lead to the largest tax increase on business in the state of Illinois in this state’s history. Employers who have been treated with absolute disregard throughout this pandemic will literally be left holding the bag, and will be responsible for filing the remaining deficit to the Unemployment Insurance Trust fund,” said state Sen. Don DeWitte (R-St. Charles) late last month, according to WTTW television.

“Illinois could – Republicans argue should – have immediately dedicated $4.5 billion of its $8.1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to wipe out the debt, as did other states.”

And, another is that the suspension of the gas tax will dent road repair, which the tax is designed to address. But, In February Pritzker said that the savings would be $135 million, “without delaying any infrastructure projects funded by the motor fuel tax,” according to the Quad City Times.

A direct criticism by some observers will not only be inflation, but increased crime that is hurtling across the nation, but especially in its largest city, Chicago, where carjackings, personal assaults and subway crime have taken the city down a drain hole, and how the money for violence prevention is spent will depend on a significant decrease, especially in Chicago.

The plan is for $200 million.

For inflation the plan is for a suspension in the 2.2 percent gas tax, and rebate checks up to $300 to homeowners; and, for taxpayers making less than $200,000 per year and joint filers, less than $400,000, $50 each, and $100 “per dependent child, up to three children, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Rounding the corner is a “permanent increase of the state earned income tax credit, which lowers tax bills and often produces refunds, “ for low, and even moderate, income people, especially in households with children, which centers the credit, much like it is on the federal side.

What might surprise some is the $1 billion into the nearly empty aforementioned fund, from the Rauner administration; and even further is an extra payment of $200 million into the woefully underfunded pensions system still the highest in the country.

Adding to the required payment of $9.6 billion gives naysayers a pause, especially in a separate increase of $300 million from March.

This comes from, they say, increased revenue in areas that took in higher earnings and was taxed accordingly, State Comptroller Susan Mendoza has also lowered the backlog of unpaid bills by $3 billion, from $17 billion.

In the past, “major industries that contributed the most to Illinois’s gross domestic product in 2020 were finance, professional services, manufacturing, government and social services,“ noted the Urban Institute.

$200 million is targeted for fighting crime, an issue that has gained national prominence with Dems being soft on crime, especially on the federal level, and their criticism of newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Kentaji Brown Jackson.

In that vein, Illinois Democrats have extended a 2027 law that lets police use eavesdropping devices during criminal investigations, and extending street gang racketeering law by one year,” added the Tribune.

Bread and butter issues, literally are not ignored and there is a “family relief plan” that includes a temporary suspension of a 1% state tax on foods, equalling one dollar per $100 of food.

While the gaping hole in the unemployment fund, remains to be fixed, supporters and even some earnest critics have agreed that even having a surplus is boon to a state long mired in debt, and the tax benefits and rebate checks to homeowners, and individual and joint filers, gives some gravy to go with the potatoes, even if the whole meal has not been paid for. 

Chicago in 2022? Much like in 2021

 2021 was a watershed year for Chicago and for many, both residents and lawmakers alike, it seemed to be the year of trouble, frustration, and even rage; much of it centered on Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the city’s second Black, and openly gay, mayor.

As the dean of the local political press, Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun Times, noted some months ago, keeping crime down and the school system sound are hallmarks of the mayor’s office, no matter who is on the seat, or rather hot seat.

Looking at these two key areas we find a very different woman from the one who ran for office, and who, in many respects, seems more like her immediate predecessor, Rahm Emanuel: prickly, thin skinned and prone to defending her appointed leadership, even when they fall on their swords.

In several key, and related areas, she departed from the populist stance that she had as a mayoral candidate, notably for an elected school board, that she favored in one fashion, or another, and which helped her win in key wards, but later condemned.

Crime prevails as number one problem

Unfortunately, for many residents, crime, while on the rise across the nation, seems to have dominated her tenure, and nearly every Chicago headline; while the homicide rate has soared in the space of a year.“

Murders in Chicago last year increased by more than 50%,” the Chicago Sun-Times reported, “compared to a national increase of 30%.”

This area in particular has made Lightfoot the punching bag for many sections of Chicago, and her handpicked Police Superintendent David Brown, imported from Dallas, seems ineffectual, or naive at best, in the court of public opinion

This was especially seen in the aftermath of the George Floyd murder with looters that tailgated peaceful protests in the city and seemed to set the tone, as violence and robberies increased downtown in 2021, with no real abatement in sight.

Carjacking, likewise, was a national trend, but, in Chicago, it seemed like a hobby for many of the city’s youth, as they swept across downtown, Boystown, and the far North Side, stealing subcompact cars, as well as luxury models such as a Mercedes Benz; and, all with the tap of the revolver against the driver’s window. 

Some drivers fought back and were pistol whipped, others were able to flee on foot, but many failed and often lost their phones, wallets and purses, in the process.

These were Intersected with drive-by shootings, the seemingly routine domestic violence, freeway vigilantes wielding guns, but none seemed to match the smash and grabs along Michigan Avenue and Oak Street, as every chic shop had their windows rammed by rental trucks, or flash mobs, entering and stealing everything in sight, later to  be sold on the internet, by black marketeers.

Fashionable women on a budget might be careful in buying an evening bag, from an unknown website at a deeply discounted price, not knowing that it once graced the window of Louis Vuitton, or Gucci.

Helping to derive local coffers of needed revenue as the city struggles to regain an economic foothold after Covid lockdowns; crime and robberies can also affect the tourist trade, as well as local suburbanites going downtown for dinner and a show, and the overseas visitor looking to explore what is often touted as a world class city.

Contrary to public belief Lightfoot has never called for defunding the police, and in fact, her efforts to balance accountability, and give them a long delayed raise, has been largely ignored.

Likewise, Kim Foxx, States Attorney for Cook County has also taken a number of hits, even outside of her fumbling with the Jussie Smollett case, where an early recusal could have saved her from disgrace; but, along with the may she has been repeatedly blamed for the increased crime in Chicago.

With many criminals released on ankle bracelets, and 10 percent bail, the perps are back on duty, often the next night. Foxx in a recent radio interview on WCPT, said “those are the judges” not her office, but many resident and business owners have wondered aren't they under her purview, and why the almost laughing dismissal?

Right behind crime? Chicago Public Schools and COVID

Chicago Public Schools faced the challenges of teaching remotely, or in person, and how to deal with the safety of staff as well as students with Covid. So much so that there were photos of teachers giving remote instruction on laptops perched on snack tables, with teachers in  folding chairs, outside in the freezing cold, in front of their schools.

Former CPS head, Janice Jackson after playing cat and mouse games with the Chicago Teachers Union over safety concerns became so worn down, that she resigned in May of last year.

Now with  increased hospitalizations of children, and an equal rise for adults with the Omicron variant, new concerns are on the horizon and both the CTU and CPS are in meetings as on Wednesday, teachers refused to teach in person; a necessity they say with most students unvaccinated, 60%, at last estimate, and many, unsure of the new variant and its effect on them, and anyone in their care, outside of school.

Now, with name calling and accusations of incompetence, last year’s troubles have resurfaced, and City hall and the new head, Pedro Martinez, seem headed for a public showdown. 

Much like before, in August, as The Chicago Tribune then reported, concerns are for those “COVID 19 quarantine procedures and telework accommodations for CTU members who are medically unable to return to classrooms.”

While students returned to class on Monday after the winter break, new infections due to record level increases of the Omicron variant, the return to the remote has been called a “walkout” according to school district leaders.

They also maintain that current procedures like masking, weekly testing and improved air filtration are enough, and the city’s chief medical officer, Dr. Allison Arwady has said the schools are safe.

Plans to keep the 350,000 student district buildings open reflect both the national trend to keep children in school, and reflect that many parents need to work, in the absence of child care. 

A repeat of 2021 seems imminent and the celebrity endorsement of the CTU is pending.

All of this is set against the drumbeat of complaints about the crime, even with single digit temps reigning in some activity, but crime on Chicago’s subway system, especially its main red line, add to the furor with many residents avoiding it like the plague.

Sentencing and electronic monitoring, battle on!

Central to much of resident ire last year was the sentencing system which bordered on lenience, said many. They also were irate at the electronic monitoring that seemed to be of no effect in monitoring criminal behavior, now, or in the future.

In July of last year, reported The Chicago Sun-Times, after an especially violent July Fourth weekend, “Police Supt. David Brown on Tuesday pointed at the county’s justice system for last weekend’s violence, alleging the courts have been too lenient on those charged with crimes.”

“Chicago police officers are doing their job by arresting people and charging them with murder,” Brown said. “That’s doing our part. And what’s happening in the courts, it’s creating this unsafe environment for all of us.”

According to The Chicago Sun Times, “State’s Attorney Kim Foxx later responded, that day, in a Tweet saying, “Finger-pointing instead of talking honestly about the violence plaguing our city doesn’t help bring solutions that make our communities safer. It starts with apprehending those who pull the trigger; police must make an arrest before a case reaches the courthouse door."

In spite of Brown’s comment, in most violent crime cases where felony charges are sought, police do not charge suspects. Chicago police investigate and present their evidence to Foxx’s Felony Review Unit, which then approves or rejects the charges, or asks the police to investigate further.

This understanding of who does what when a suspect is arrested, is not just Brown mispeaking, but is attributable to much of the public perception as well.

Not helping is the fact that Foxx has dropped many felony charges according to a Chicago Tribune Analysis in August of 2021, and, using statistical software, concluded that “The state’s attorney’s office under Foxx dismissed felony cases at a higher rate than under Alvarez.”

They summed it up by stating that “final outcomes of changes in a case, such as guilty pleas, a finding of not guilty or being dropped entirely,” by Foxx’s office, with a score of 25,183 v. 18,694.

62% of Chicago residents feel that crime has increased from more than a year ago, making it the number one issue.

In tandem with this is that Foxx in a desire to mitigate Covid in the penal system decided not prosecute low level crimes, such as shoplifting, by increasing the dollar amount to $1,000, but as St. Teresa once said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and her actions have pilloried her judicial reputation.

In an attempt to stem the tide, and save the day Lightfoot in January for a moratorium on electronic monitoring for the most violent offenders,and said, ““I must continue to sound the alarm about the growing number of pre-trial offenders released back to the communities in Chicago on electronic monitoring,” the mayor wrote. “The ballooning number of violent and dangerous people on EM is one of those drivers as they impact the communities to which they return in multiple, harmful ways.” 

This proposal was quickly shot down by Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans who in his fiery retort, said, “In a statement Tuesday, Evans said that under the U.S. and state constitutions, Lightfoot’s request to end electronic monitoring for some defendants treated them as if they were “considered guilty until proven innocent,” reported the Sun Times.

“A judge cannot hold someone pretrial without a finding that the defendant poses a real and present threat to the physical safety of any person. This must be found by clear and convincing evidence and the burden of proof is on the prosecution,” Evans wrote. “The mayor’s proposal seems to require that defendants facing certain allegations be considered guilty until proven innocent.”

His office reported that, “The number of defendants on electronic monitoring as of mid-year 2021 was 3,599, an increase of about 1,400 from 2017 levels”, added the Times.

Where perception meets reality has become problematic with a “he said”, “she said”, between the two, each presenting their stats, with the mayor saying there were 130 people who committed crimes on EM, but Evans said that,”less than 1% of would amount to less than 1% of all cases that include a charge for a violent or weapons-related offense.”

Entering the fray was this:” More than 80% of defendants were not arrested for new charges while on bond, and only 3% picked up a new arrest for a violent offense, according to a 2020 report by Loyola University researchers,” added the paper.

If hope was a promise, then all would be well for Chicago in 2022, but for schools and crime, it looks to be a repeat of 2021.