Mayor Johnson Makes Controversial Comments on Law Enforcement and Incarceration.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson declared his intention to “eradicate” what he called the “sickness” of law enforcement, jails, and incarceration during a fiery press conference on Tuesday, as first reported by CWBChicago.
The mayor’s comments came in response to a question about his administration’s public safety plan, where he also claimed President Donald Trump was attempting to take credit for a recent downtick in Chicago’s murder rate.
According to the outlet, Johnson cited specific years of high murder counts, including Chicago‘s record-setting 970 killings in 1974, 828 in 1995, 778 in 2016, and 805 in 2021.
He argued these figures demonstrated that traditional policing and incarceration had failed to create safe communities.
“This has been a problem in this city for a very long time,” Johnson said, adding, “It’s a sickness and we’re gonna eradicate it.” The mayor also stated he was “sick and tired of people believing that the only thing that Black and Brown and poor people get to get in this city are badges.”
However, CWBChicago’s review of official records shows that the years cited by the mayor were outliers and did not reflect the city’s longer-term trend of declining homicides.
The report stated that between 2004 and 2013, Chicago’s annual murder count never exceeded 513 and frequently remained below 450. The murder counts for 2016 and 2021 were part of a broader national crime surge during the pandemic.
Critics noted that the city’s long-term decline in crime occurred during the very period the mayor described as being plagued by the “sickness” of arrests and incarceration.
While Chicago’s murder count for the current year is on pace to show a significant improvement, the mayor’s characterization of law enforcement and his use of selective data is sure to prompt a heated debate about the most effective strategies for public safety.
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