Too many shoplifters in your town? At least one community in Kenosha County, Wisconsin wants fewer reports of retail theft. But, actually stopping the stealing can be a challenge. The Village of Somers has an idea. If a store has too much theft, just make the merchant pay a $500 fee for calling the police. How much is too much? Well it used to be 20 calls a month. Now it will be 10 retail theft calls a month. We agree. Ten thefts from your store a month is too many. Worse, all of those calls makes it look like the village has a crime problem. Less calls, fewer reports. Fewer reports, less crime. Well, sort of. We did not say making a crime victim pay for police service was a good idea. [Click the link below to read more.]
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The Chicago Police Department (CPD) will take the lead in paying respects to slain Police Officer Areanah M. Preston. Sadly, the department has considerable experience in how to render honors to a fallen member. Police Officer Preston was the second CPD officer murdered this year. The pain of the loss of Police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso is still raw. Areanah is due our respect for how she lived, and for her willingness to be a peacemaker. She and her family are owed our unending thanks and prayers for the cost she paid for being a police officer. We encourage all who can attend the wake or funeral to do so, and if you cannot to at least pause, reflect, and sincerely pray for her and her family. But what else? [Click the link below to read more.]
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Officials have confirmed the murder of yet another Chicago Police Department (CPD) officer. The incident occurred about 1:45 a.m. today, 6 May 2023. The identity of the murdered female police officer was not initially released, but has since been confirmed as Areanah Preston. We join all those mourning her loss, most particularly her family. That is the most important part of this story. Lawlessness in Chicago remains a serious issue, and the city has lost another officer to violence. But, there is also another undercurrent worth noting. Even before linking to their reporting on the March murder of Police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso, Chicago’s ABC affiliate linked its readers to their article on the release of body camera footage in a completely unrelated police shooting. Media bias? [Click the link below to read more.]
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Going back to the height of THE pandemic, polling by Gallup showed public confidence in key institutions was low. Even as the news media has pushed narratives focusing on other institutions, the public held the media in very low regard. Like trust in Congress low. There are many reasons to hold the media in low regard. A leading choice since 2020, THE pandemic excuse. That excuse was a favorite for the Associated Press (AP) and others in the media. While ridiculous, the beyond simplistic cover story was used to explain away huge problems caused by horrible public policies. Issues like a crushed economy. Well sure. But also rising violence and even reckless driving. But, this week National Public Radio (NPR) read from a new script. Rising traffic deaths just may have more to do with the consequences from lessened traffic enforcement by the police than Covid. Shocking. Well not really. [Click the link below to read more.]
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Since the Summer of 2021, we have raised the question as to whether Chicago was becoming a Hadleyville. In the 1952 film classic High Noon, the fictional town of Hadleyville was the setting for an epic tale of a broken bond between a community and its marshal. There gunmen openly sought to murder the town marshal, at “high noon,” without any concern the town would stand up in support of the rule of law. Polling this month by the firm Schoen Cooperman Research (SCR) suggests most Chicago voters want greater public safety. That polling is in advance of the 4 April 2023 runoff election for Mayor of Chicago. The polling data also shows most Chicago voters support the Chicago Police Department (CPD). [Click the link below to read more.]
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Late yesterday afternoon, Chicago Police Officer Andres Vasquez Lasso was murdered as he honored his sacred oath. He and other police officers were responding to a domestic-related call of a man with a gun. As Officer Vasquez Lasso was coming to the defense of a victim, and a community, he was wounded by the offender. Despite the efforts of his fellow officers and medical personnel, Officer Vasquez Lasso did not survive the attack. His murder is a tragedy for his family, and a tragedy for a city that struggles against lawlessness. [Click the link below to read more.]
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At Secure 1776 we waited a week to issue our New Year’s post to make a point. There is no special magic at the stroke of midnight ending the last day of any December. Not with the dropping of a ball in Times Square, nor with the dropping of a musical note in Nashville. Not with the flipping of the calendar to any January 1st. As far as holidays go, New Years commemorates little more than Ground Hog Day does. Time passes. It is true that most of us seek more time. Time to get things right. Many hope to achieve significant accomplishments, and have more time for enjoyment. Yet, individually and as a society we tend to waste a lot of time. We tend not to spend enough of it seeking truth. Such is the case with the public safety crisis that continues in far too many communities. [Click the link below to read more.]
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The Manhattan Institute and its City Journal are premier resources relative to understanding crime and social issues impacting the nation. This is particularly true relative to the struggles of urban life in New York City. On 21 December 2022, City Journal posted an insightful discussion about crime and crime control. What works and what does not work. The exchange is from the 2022 George L. Kelling Lecture hosted by the Manhattan Institute. The lecture featured Raymond Kelly, an impressive leader in the police profession. Kelly served twice as the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). He was among the NYPD leaders that helped to bring about the turnaround in crime in New York City during the 1990s. The lecture should be required learning for all politicians, before they are allowed to tinker with the laws and procedures that are essential to public safety. [Click the link below to read more.]
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The Associated Press (AP) continues to publish stories suggesting a causation link between THE pandemic and crime. No, not investigative journalism seeking to examine whether a virus was created through banned gain of function research. Not journalism suggesting the use of a biological weapon as a war crime. Simply, crime and violence on our streets. AP continues to cite THE pandemic as a key explanation for the continuing lawlessness that exploded in 2020 across America. As we all know, the spark of that explosion occurred in May 2020 in Minneapolis. Yet, let us not forget, that just days before that spark, the news media was citing THE pandemic as the reason why crime in America was declining. It is beyond time to stop using THE pandemic as a bogeyman to gloss over the lawlessness issue that persists in far too much of our nation. [Click the link below to read more.]
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In August, we posted on the bad news ahead for public safety in Illinois beginning on 1 January 2023. The posting provided a review of key changes to the criminal justice system that are coming with the full implementation of the Illinois SAFE-T Act. In fact, all but two of the 102 elected state’s attorneys in Illinois have expressed concerns about the changes that await the state. The already enacted changes include: (1) severe restrictions on when the courts can order even violent offenders to be held in custody prior to trial; (2) procedural obstacles in the ability of judges to issue warrants for offenders who fail to appear in court; and (3) the prohibition of police officers from making any physical arrests for public order crimes like trespassing. Here in this post, we provide two additional interviews as recommended resources. [Click the link below to read more.]
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On a fundamental level, changing problematic behavior is a personal struggle. While others can help, the involved individual either makes the needed change or not. Simple logic and critical thinking tell us, if we seek another to do less of something, we should discourage such behavior. So to we know, a key method by which to encourage a behavior is to incentivize it. When a financial benefit is linked to a behavior, we tend to see more of it. However, such is true even if that behavior is damaging. In the Summer 2022 issue of City Journal, public policy analyst Judge Glock provides a devastating look at how government policies have incentivized drug addiction and criminality. Taxpayer funds purportedly seeking to address homelessness are instead fostering misery and death. The article and an interview this past week with the author are recommended resources. [Click the link below to read more.]
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In Illinois, state’s attorneys are the elected county prosecutors. They represent the people of their respective counties in court. When 100 out of 102 elected state’s attorneys have a warning, then the people are wise to listen. The coming full implementation of the SAFE-T Act in January 2023 will make Illinois far less safe. On 5 August 2022, AM560’s Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson, from Chicago’s Morning Answer, interviewed two county prosecutors from the Chicago area. One Republican, Robert Berlin, from DuPage, County. One Democrat, James Glasgow, from Will County. They are agreed. Public safety will be jeopardized. Law-abiding citizens will be confronted by emboldened criminals, and the police and prosecutors will be far less able to do much about it. The full interview is a highly-recommended resource. [Click the link below to read more.]
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