Elected Democrats in Chicago remained silent when asked by Fox News Digital how they planned on addressing plummeting arrest numbers and police morale in the city while crime has surged since 2020.
Chicago police made arrests in 12% of crime cases in 2021, the lowest rate since 2001, as sweeping changes have been made in recent years as to how the department patrols the streets, including restricting their vehicle pursuit policy and ending foot pursuits if a suspect runs from an officer or if someone commits a minor offense.
Fox News Digital reached out multiple times to the offices of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx for comment on how they plan to address the drop in arrests and low police morale but did not receive a response by press time.
Chicago has been rocked by crime in recent years. Homicides skyrocketed in the city in 2020, following a drop in violence for the three previous years. The Windy City recorded nearly 770 homicides in 2020, up 50% compared to 2019. Last year, the city broke a 25-year record when it surpassed 800 homicides, the Chicago Tribune reported.
So far this year, shootings and killings for the first half of 2022 are down roughly 17% and 10%, respectively. However, the city is still on pace to break the 600-homicide benchmark by the end of the year, WTTW reported this month.
The number of traffic stops and tickets have also dropped, and the number of investigative stops fell by more than 50% between 2019 and 2021. Additionally, the Chicago-Sun Times analysis showed that fewer crimes are being reported to police by residents and officers on the streets.
“I’m not shocked that our Governor, Mayor and States Attorney refuse to comment,” Alderman Anthony Napolitano of Chicago’s 41st Ward, told Fox News Digital. “Their policies have led to the increase in crime and decrease of arrests.”
“Just look at the State of Illinois’ recently passed crime bill ‘The Safe-T-Act’, or the Chicago Police Department’s most recent policy regarding chasing criminals on foot, and don’t forget the States Attorney’s track record on lowering Felony offenses to Misdemeanors and putting criminals back on the street within hours,” Napolitano continued. “It’s all disgusting.”
Napolitano added that the situation in Chicago represents a “political strategy” motivated by the socialist wing of the Democratic Party.
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