by Adam Robinson, Candidate for Illinois State Senate, 7th District
This week, Illinois State Representatives John Fritchey (D-Chicago) and LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) proposed calling in the National Guard to combat the street violence that plagues many neighborhoods on Chicago’s south side.
To say that gang-related violence is a problem for Chicago is an understatement. In 2010, 113 Chicagoans have fallen victim to violence thus far - a nearly 5 percent increase from this time last year. Parents are scared and frustrated, and kids face pervasive and unrelenting danger when walking to and from school. And it’s not just related to the south side neighborhoods – here in Uptown, gang-related violence is a problem that’s at the top of everyone’s list.
In short, it’s an unacceptable situation that demands immediate action.
I applaud Representatives Fritchey and Ford for proposing a solution to this problem, and for calling attention to the impact of gang-related violence in our communities. However, calling in the National Guard to police Chicago streets is the wrong solution, for several reasons.
First and foremost, the job of policing our streets is best handled by the Chicago Police Department. Their focus on communities, their ability to work precincts block-by-block, and their relationships with neighborhood residents is what makes them effective. Additionally, police are trained in the legal execution of search warrants, and the collection and preservation of evidence for prosecution. We should keep these tasks in the hands of trained municipal law enforcement professionals whose mission is entirely focused on the precincts they serve.
The National Guard, on the other hand, exists primarily to assist in theaters of war, and to lend aid domestically during and after natural disasters. At best, the National Guard will have limited awareness of local communities and the unique dynamics that exist within them, which makes for heavy-handed law enforcement. They are adept at navigating a war zone, but are ill-suited to deliver an appropriate level of service to our neighborhoods. Using the military to do the job of municipal law enforcement agencies takes control away from local communities and gives it to an organization much less-suited to the role of keeping neighborhoods safe.
(It’s also likely that using the National Guard in this manner violates current law. The Posse Comitatus Act limits the powers of the Federal Government to use the military for law enforcement, and has been the law of the land for the last 132 years. )
While the intentions of Reps. Fritchey and Ford are noble, these legislators are, essentially, casting a no-confidence vote on the CPD’s ability to keep our streets safe at a time when police resources are stretched to the breaking point. Rather than outsource neighborhood police work to the military, we should focus on several realistic alternatives.
First, let’s start by providing more money for community law enforcement. To those who say, “We don’t have the money,” I ask this question: What’s the higher priority – continuing to fund wasteful programs and our state’s mammoth bureaucracy, or funding more cops on the street? I’m guessing that residents in these neighborhoods would be on-board with trading bureaucrats for badges. We may also be able to secure Federal money to fund local police, as Republican Congressional candidate Isaac Hayes (2nd Congressional District) has suggested we do through the Homeland Security Appropriations Act’s Discretionary Fund and the Stimulus Bill’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program.
Second, we should focus our efforts on helping these communities grow stronger from within. Chronic youth unemployment and a failing public education system are two root causes of gangs and, by extension, gang violence. The only way we bring about permanent change within these communities is by creating an environment in which our city’s youth can get a good education and a good job. Citizens should be demanding that Illinois’ elected officials to deliver on these fronts, and for far too long the General Assembly has made it harder, not easier, for kids in these areas to succeed as productive members of society.
Third, communities should focus on breaking the “code of silence” that exists in the streets, where neighbors are unwilling to bear witness against the perpetrators of violence out of a fear for their safety. There is likely no viable government solution for this problem; this issue is solved by community peer pressure and a sense of ownership that can’t be manufactured artificially. Police can support this effort by remaining sensitive to neighborhood concerns and by going the extra mile build relationships within the community.
The answers are obvious, but not easy to implement – address the failing schools that graduate less than 50% of students and the lack of viable employment opportunities that create an environment in which gangs thrive, and you can attack the problem at its core. Doing so means diverting state dollars away from wasteful bureaucracy and delivering it towards putting more police on the streets. And that, my friends, takes political leadership from Springfield – something we’re sorely lacking at the moment.
I share the frustration that Reps. Fritchey and Ford feel, and I can understand why they’re proposing drastic and immediate action as a solution. However, the only solution to this problem that works in the long run is more police, better schools, and a pro-jobs environment, and these reforms are dependent on the Illinois General Assembly finally doing what the public sent them to Springfield to do.
Concerned citizens should write their Representative and State Senator and tell them to focus their attention - and taxpayer money - on addressing these root causes of gangs and gang violence, and not on funding waste and bureaucracy.
Martial law on the streets of Chicago is not the answer.
About Adam:
Entrepreneur, small business owner and community advocate Adam Robinson is the challenger for Illinois State Senate, 7th District (Chicago’s far-north side). Adam's advocates policies that increase jobs, improve public education, and promote transparency in government. Find out more at www.ElectAdamRobinson.com
