Pounding the podium with emotion, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Friday he’s outraged by the bloodbath of violence that claimed the life of a 6-year-old playing on her porch in front of her parents and nearly killed a Chicago Police officer.
“What happened is unacceptable. Our streets are for our children and for our law-abiding parents. I cannot think of anything worse than if a family is hanging out on their front porch [enjoying] nice spring-like weather that that is violated by violence. Our streets do not belong to gang-bangers,” Emanuel said.
“While obviously 10 [murders] over a weekend is dramatic, it is too frequent and too normal. I will not allow a child in Chicago to not have — as long as I’m mayor and I have something to do about it — the most basic of rights, which is the ability to play in their neighborhood, play on their streets and grow up with that sense of normalcy.”
So, in essence, Rahm is promising to finally hire more police officers. Because cameras aren't doing it, the "reverends" aren't doing it, the brass isn't doing it and McCarthy isn't doing it either.
- Mayor Rahm Emanuel today called on residents to help police take back their neighborhoods in the wake of a spate of shootings around Chicago.
- Responding to criticism that there aren't enough cops on the streets to prevent the violence, Emanuel pointed out he has moved more police officers into patrol jobs from administrative positions since taking office.
And it still isn't enough, is it? 9-1-1 calls go unanswered for minutes at a time. The calls sit and wait for an available car for tens of minutes, even hours. But as long as it falls into their "window," the city claims response times are stellar. Talk to citizens however and the luster starts to dim.
- After returning from his ski-trip to Utah with his kids, he said he went straight to the New Life Church to find out more details on the gun violence that plagued the city during a spell of warm weather.
So while the children of Chicago (who will probably never see the Rocky Mountains except in pictures) were being slaughtered in their front yards and on their blocks, Rahm was off skiing with his kids.
- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel made a plea to the public Friday asking residents to help police stop violence in their neighborhoods.
"I understand the comfort that comes from 'It didn't happen in my neighborhood.' But it happened in your city," Mayor Emanuel said Friday.
"your city"? How about "our city" Rahm? Or are you admitting again you weren't really a citizen of Chicago for a stretch of years?