Last week we posted on the continued lawlessness and outright evil observed in three American cities on a single day – 14 May 2022. The most horrific of the incidents occurred in a Buffalo supermarket. But, evening lawlessness in the entertainment and downtown areas of Milwaukee and Chicago also stood out. Less than a week later, Chicago’s downtown was the scene of yet another mass causality shooting incident. The latest mass shooting left two people dead and seven others wounded outside a major subway stop and a popular McDonald’s restaurant on Chicago Avenue. That shooting incident happened on Thursday night, 19 May 2022. Today, Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez (15th Ward) gathered the signatures of 29 other council members to call a Special Meeting of the Chicago City Council. The focus – Chicago violence and the city administration’s plan to address lawlessness. [Click the link below to read more.]
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Well it has started. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) has begun to terminate department members over Covid-19 vaccinations. As reported by the Los Angeles Daily News, two LAPD officers were fired following recent “Board of Rights” administrative hearings. The terminations were reported by the LAPD at the Los Angeles Police Commission meeting held on Tuesday, 8 March 2022. These two officers join another LAPD officer, who was previously terminated on 8 February 2022. The firings are based upon the failure of the accused officers to comply with the Covid-19 vaccine mandate for Los Angeles city employees. Such controversial vaccine mandates have faced increased questioning over efficacy, safety, autonomy concerning personal healthcare choices, as well as individual and religious liberty. Seven additional LAPD officers, and four civilian department members, face termination hearings in the coming weeks. For months, governmental actions, including vaccine, masking and social distancing mandates, as well as lockdowns and forced business and school closures have come under challenge at the federal, state and local levels. More recently, these actions have been substantially rolled back. Here is a “cops ask questions” question: Is Los Angeles safer after these terminations? [Click the link below to read more.]
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Well not surprising actually. On 10 February 2022, Newsday posted their article, “Report: Nearly half of 16-year-olds arrested under RTA committed new crimes in NYC.” Some background. What is “RTA?” RTA, stands for “raise the age,” and concerns the oldest age at which an offender is considered a juvenile. RTA measures seek to push older and older individuals away from the criminal courts and under the jurisdiction of our juvenile (or family) courts. Many advocates have pushed for raising the juvenile court age to 21 or even older. These efforts tend to go hand-in-hand with the assertion that our juvenile courts are ineffective, and there should be a complete diversion from all formal court processes. The problem – absent a formal court response mechanism, the youth most at-risk of continued and deepening delinquency do not actually participate in needed interventions. Oh, and absent both accountability and intervention, they are at a substantially increased risk of violent crime victimization themselves. The Newsday article covered a research report from the New York City Criminal Justice Agency (CJA), a non-profit, pre-trial services and “court-involved” (aka offender) advocacy organization. Their report was released in December 2021. [Click the link below to read more.]
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Last November we posted an editorial on how the City of Chicago, under the administration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, closed its only Juvenile Intervention and Support Center (JISC). In December, Secure 1776 followed up with an analysis of carjackings and the connections to juvenile crime. Carjackings have spiked across the country since 2020. An escalating carjacking problem has been particularly noteworthy in urban areas. Many cities have experienced a continuing surge. But the problem is particularly evident in Chicago. Yesterday, 7 February 2022, Mayor Lightfoot held a press conference with Chicago Police Department (CPD) Superintendent David Brown, a representative from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and other officials. In the press conference, Mayor Lightfoot indicated that half of those arrested in connection to Chicago’s carjackings are juveniles. She also made an interesting statement on the cause of the rising juvenile crime connection – “remote learning.” [Click the link below to read more.]
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For more than 30 years, Bob Welsh was an Ohio State Trooper. Welsh retired at the rank of captain, but has continued to advance the goals of the law enforcement profession. Welsh has taken pride in being an inspirational speaker and storyteller. We are living in a time where the need for inspiration is great. For several years Welsh has inspired others with his poem “My Christmas Eve.” We are proud to share it with you this Christmas Eve. [Click the link below to read more.]
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As we noted in our 13 December post, “The Chicago 800, a Deadly Race,” murders in Chicago continue to climb. We highlighted that the city would likely reach 800 murders this year. Baby-boomers, and many Gen-Xers, remember family car trips as children. At some point mom or dad would inevitably be asked: “Are we there yet.” Is Chicago “there yet?” Well, it depends on how you count. Yesterday, 16 December 2021, the Chicago Sun-Times declared, the city had experienced its 800th murder. The official Chicago Police Department (CPD) count says “no.” The official count as of midnight was 778. That number is bad enough. 778 is also more murders than the city’s full-year 2020 updated count of 772. Secure 1776 provides some clarity on the murder counts. [Click the link below to read more.]
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In auto racing, Indianapolis is legendary for the Indy 500. Indianapolis and many other cities continue to struggle with a race of a different kind – murders. It should be noted that Indianapolis has had a bad year. Already, as of 12 December, 258 people have been murdered in that city. This year’s Indy murder count is 13 more than 2020’s full-year total, and 25 more than a year ago on this date. Here in Chicago, this city is a day or so away from topping its 2020 full-year total. In fact, the Chicago 800 is underway. Such is a deadly race to see whether this year’s Chicago murder count stays under, hits, or exceeds 800. [Click the link below to read more.]
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In September, following the release of the final 2020 national crime statistics by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Secure 1776 published our post, “Truth and Consequences, 2020 Murders.” In 2020, America’s murder rate increased about 30 percent from 2019. Even though four weeks remain in 2021, as of 30 November, and compared to all of last year, the nation has already passed three key “truth and consequences” thresholds. First, more police officers have been ambushed. Second, more police officers have been hit by gunfire. Third, more police officers have been murdered. The truth, the nation, particularly in its urban areas continues to suffer from increased lawlessness. The nation’s police officers are among those suffering the consequences. [Click the link below to read more.]
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Without question, more than any other single individual, Abraham Lincoln saved our union of states. Had it not been for his leadership, including his moral clarity, our nation, “one nation under God,” would have ceased to exist in the 1860s. In the midst of the Civil War, Lincoln reminded the nation that there was much of which to be grateful. In October 1863, President Lincoln issued a thanksgiving proclamation to his countrymen. In November 1863, the words of President Lincoln in the fields of Gettysburg would again stir his nation. There he would remind the nation of the cost of liberty and justice for all. It remains to us, the living, to carry on the work that comes with living in, as Lincoln described, “the last best hope of Earth.” [Click the link below to read more.]
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As we mentioned on 30 October in our post “More Spectacle Chicago, Not Remarkable,” a combined 26 members of the Chicago City Council have the power to be remarkable. Why twenty-six? Well, in a 50-member council, 26 is a majority vote. But, that alone is not remarkable. The council votes in every session. A measure gaining 26 votes happens regularly. In fact, Chicago mayors rely on at least 26 members consistently voting as the mayor desires. Not remarkable. This has been true for generations. Today 20 members of the council sent a letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The issue, Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA). These 20 alderman expressed their assessment that Andrea Kersten should not continue to lead COPA. She is currently COPA’s interim chief administrator. She was also the chief investigator who approved COPA’s flawed report recommending slain Police Officer Ella French be suspended. [Click the link below to read more.]
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The Chicago City Council has an interesting history. Since at least the days of King Richard I, a.k.a. Mayor Richard J. Daley, most often Chicago’s mayor, whoever the mayor is, exercises more authority than the city’s charter might suggest. In theory, the 50-member city council has the upper political hand, and the authority to direct city policy. In truth, the council rarely actually leads the way on important issues of local governance. In the discussion of Chicago’s public safety and the vaccine mandate ordered by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, as of this posting 13 members of the Chicago City Council have suggested that the council has a voice. Here is another “Cops Ask Questions” question. Will 13 more council members sign on to an interesting city ordinance proposal? [Click the link below to read more.]
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Yesterday we at Secure 1776 posted on the risk to public safety that is intertwined with Chicago’s vaccine mandate for city employees. In “Cops Ask Questions, Pandemic Politics,” we pointed out that of course, cops are among those that are asking questions. We strongly recommend reading that post and watching the associated videos. Chicago is among those places where the implementation of forced vaccination approaches raises grave concerns. Here we provide a reminder about the tie between public safety and the Constitution of the United States of America. A leaked telephone conversation involving a senior U.S. Department of Justice attorney provides another reason why cops ask questions. [Click the link below to read more.]
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This week U.S. Senator Dick Durbin spoke about a driving experience on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive. We will come back to “Lake Shore Drive” in our analysis. Durbin was traveling with his wife and another couple, as the four were returning home following dinner downtown. Quoting the Senator: “It was stunning. I heard the popping sounds and I wasn’t sure what happened.” As reported by FOX32, the incident happened around 10 p.m. on Saturday, 25 September 2021. He described seeing gunfire from the car next to them. “A driver was leaning out the window and shooting a gun in the air! He could’ve just as easily been shooting the gun at us. Sadly, that’s what happens way too often … my wife and I and the other couple, we were lucky.” Such is yet one more story in Chicago’s “Groundhog Day in Hadleyville” saga. [Click the link below to read more.]
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