As Illinois mourns fallen Chicago police officer, leaders work to unify behind fighting crime

[August 10, 2021]  By Greg Bishop

(The Center Square) – Leaders in Chicago are trying to unify behind a message of being tough, yet fair, on crime as the city mourns the shooting death of a Chicago police officer amid another violent weekend.

Across the state, people are mourning the death of Chicago police officer Ella French. She was killed and her partner is hospitalized in a shooting over the weekend following a traffic stop.

Nearly 80 people were shot from Friday to Sunday, 11 of whom were killed.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Sunday the city must come together, support police and be unified against crime.

“No gang member, no drug dealer, no gun dealer can ever have a moment of peace on any block, any neighborhood, not in our city,” Lightfoot said.
 

Lightfoot said there needs to be continued work on policing and criminal justice reforms, but the debates around the issue takes away from addressing crime surges.

“But all of this, I say, stop,” Lightfoot said. “Just stop. This constant strife is not what we need in this moment.”

Democratic state Rep. La Shawn Ford agreed Monday that there needs to be a unified message. He acknowledged political tensions.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Sunday. State Rep. La Shawn Ford, D-Chicago, Monday on WMAY   ChicagoMayorsOffice Facebook, WMAYNews Facebook

“What you have in Chicago, the mayor fighting with the governor, and the judges fighting with the police, and the mayor fighting with the prosecutors and the judges,” Ford told WMAY. “There’s a gang war between politicians. And so I don’t know how we’re going to be able to deal with the crisis at hand when politicians don't come together and deal with the problems..."
 
 Ford said the weekly shooting numbers deters people from visiting Chicago and crime must be controlled in order for the city’s tourism industry to thrive.
 
 “The fact that Chicago continues to have this surge of violence, police being shot at, police being killed, people are changing their plans and they’re going to go and they’re going to go to places they feel safer,” Ford said.
 
 Ford said if a criminal wants rehabilitation, they should get it, but bad people must be locked up.
 
 The latest compiled statistics report from the Chicago Police Department shows 471 homicides to date. In 2019, there were 300 homicides. Year-to-date shooting incidents were 2,092. That’s up 65% from 2019. Motor vehicle theft has also increased from 2019 by 3%.