Lawmakers: Military could quell Chicago violence(murders and so on, not rioting)

[Rusty Shackleford]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/25/AR2010042503518.html


CHICAGO -- Two Illinois lawmakers say violence has become so rampant in Chicago that the National Guard must be called in to help.
Chicago Democratic Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford made a public plea to Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday to deploy troops.
The request comes amid a recent surge in violent crime, including a night last week that saw seven people killed and 18 wounded, mostly by gunfire.
Fritchey says Chicago has had 113 homicide victims this year. He says the police department has done a commendable job, but its resources are stretched thin.
Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis says he appreciates the lawmakers' frustration and willingness to help, but doubts the National Guard is the best answer.
A message left for Quinn wasn't returned Sunday.



any chicagoans know more about this?

[Robocommie]

A few years back I had heard there was a situation where the crime had gotten so bad in one part of the South Side that the city morgue was too afraid to even go to pick up the bodies. I'm not sure how much of that was talk though, I live in midstate Illinois and you hear a lot about Chicago, some true, some bullshit.

[theblackmask]

I hadn't heard of this until I picked up the paper this morning. The reps calling for this are a landlord and Rod Blagojevich's successor, so they probably have some plan to profit off of any sort of military presence. It also serves as a nice way for them to look "hard on crime" to their constituents in light of the recent violent crime wave.

Daley and Weiss will never go along with anything of the sort, as they are perfectly content with homicide as long as it stays in the right neighborhoods.

[chegitz guevara]

This is political grandstanding in order to get more funding for police.

My wife is in Chicago (South Side!) atm, and she hasn't said anything about crime being worse or there being a climate of fear.

[which doctor]

I can see the headline of the Socialist Worker already: Stop the Imperialist Occupation of the South Side!

[The Douche]

What are guardsmen even gonna do?

[theblackmask]

What are guardsmen even gonna do?

Enforce curfews, harass people...the usual.

[The Douche]

Enforce curfews, harass people...the usual.

It would take a lot of troops to patrol chicgao. Not to mention, I dunno where they would get the troops from, they'd have to come from more remote parts of the state, otherwise the troops would all be residents of the neighborhoods they're patrolling.