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| The biggest danger on the Riverwalk is someone stepping on your toe. Other areas of the city have more crime, but all told, Chicago is not the especially violent place it is being accused of being by President Donald Trump, trying to justify sending in the military |
My wife and I took the 2:36 Metra Downtown so I could co-host the Sun-Times Roast of the Chicago Skyline architectural boat tour. We could have taken the 3:36 and still made the boat. But, cautious man that I am, it seemed smart to build in time for train delays. I was worried enough about giving the tour without also having to worry about getting to the dock.
Arriving at Union Station with two hours to spare, we decided to walk the 45 minutes to the Ogden Slip, so I could eyeball the riverfront I’d be describing. We took the Riverwalk, mobbed with young people on a gorgeous summer day, doing what young people do — drinking and talking and standing around. Some spots were like pushing toward the bar at a crowded party.
None of this was extraordinary, and I only mention it here because we’ve got President Donald Trump calling Chicago the “worst and most dangerous city in the world, by far.”
That’s ridiculous, or would be, except fear is contagious. Lots of readers echo him.
“Hardly a night went by regardless of season that I did Not hear gunshots in Chicago,” wrote Mike Elmore, now a resident of Florida, who lived in the South Loop, two blocks west of Grant Park, and must have extraordinary hearing.
“People who live and work in Chicago should feel safe there (just like the folks in Washington DC do now),” wrote Patricia Bajek, of the western suburbs, showing a surprising ability to read the minds of everybody in our nation’s capital. “I do not live in Chicago, nor do I visit it anymore. ... My last few times coming to Chicago before pulling the plug, I did not feel safe.”
Maybe she didn’t. And some people feel unsteady trying to walk across the room. That is not, in itself, an indictment of walking.
I shouldn’t mock these people — it isn’t entirely their fault. Not with the president slandering Chicago on a daily basis to rationalize sending in the military. Some obviously believe the man, which to me is dumbfounding, akin to sending $3,000 as a sign of good faith to the purported widow of an African businessman who reached out to you via email, trying to give away $200 million in gold bars.
Throwing mud at Chicago is a kind of armchair sport. Anyone can play.
“From what I have been told the absolute worst area is the West Garfield Park area,” Dan Baldwin wrote. “It got so bad there everyone moved out. Now nothing but empty building and empty lots. ... It’s a lot worse than anything in Baltimore or DC.”
He’s never actually been there. I have. Al Raby High School. Garfield Park Conservatory, which is presenting its Artist’s Garden Flower Show until Sept. 14. You might argue that the conservatory is technically across Hamlin Avenue from West Garfield Park. But that is to delve into the factual world. When you explain crime statistics to people, they do not go, “Oh, sorry, I was misinformed.” They take what I’m saying — “Chicago is not an especially violent city; there are dozens of cities more dangerous, many in red states where the National Guard will never set foot” and twist it. “Ohhh, you’re saying Chicago is not violent at all!”
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Thanks Neil
ReplyDeleteOutright fascists like the fat, demented, deranged, moronic fool, who is also dying right in front of our eyes always need an enemy to attack & blame for what is wrong with the place they want to rule with an iron hand. So Chicago, which hates his rotten to the core guts, has multitudes of people standing on Upper Wacker taking selfies of themselves giving his building & his overblown name on that building the finger all day long, is his current target.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet he's seen those selfies & that's the reason why he wants to send the military here. He'll order them stationed on Upper Wacker just to prevent anymore of those selfies!
ReplyDeleteNeil,
Attached is the CPDs one page summary of major crime statistics for 2024. it backs up what you the mayor and the governor are saying about crime decreasing in the city. Still its not a pretty picture with more than 2,000 shooting victims and 1,000 car jackings . there were over 12,000 guns seized . Another source - shot spotter- recorded over 20,000 incidents where a fire arm was discharged resulting in over 100,000 rounds fired.
Chicago is a big city and per capita not anywhere near the most violent in America. None the less we have a serious crime problem without even looking at other types of violent crime let alone petty crimes that make life in the city less than ideal.
We may not need the guard or increased levels of personel from federal agencies but increased law enforcement could help reduce levels of crime to the point where a soccer game in hermosa could be as safe as a boat ride along the river.
Of course other programs and policies to raise the standard of living amongst poor chicagoans could also go a long way toward addressing these issues.
https://www.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-in-Review.pdf
"We may not need the guard" ... you're tipping your hand, Franco. You seem to be arguing that unless crime is eliminated, we need a police state. Blow away the fog of BS, and that's your argument. You can't feel THAT unsafe in Garfield Park. You live there.
DeleteHello, Neil (and Franco).
DeleteAs a long-time reader of the blog and comments section, I tend to feel that I “know” certain frequent posters, as is common with many online communities.
To qualify my statements, I know the area in which Franco lives (I believe he mentioned the general vicinity of Sacramento and Warren), as I drive. frequently up Sacramento from the Eisenhower to visit a friend who lives near California and Dickens. I was born, raised, and live in Cook County, and at 65 years of age, know my way around pretty well. When coming home from my friend’s, I generally like to be down Sacramento and on the Ike heading home no later than 10 pm. The area in which he lives has gentrified ever so slightly, as it pushes west along Madison and south down Sacramento, but nonetheless I feel I have to be careful. As an aside, there are some beautiful row houses along Warren, west of Madison, and given the proximity to public transportation, Franco made a wise choice buying there as it will someday be a destination.
I think what he may be referring to is that we don’t need the Nat’l Guard or any paramilitary group if CPD were allowed to perform their role without fear of being unsupported as they were by the overly progressive former States Attorney or in fear of COPA. As some posters have mentioned, there seems to be a bit of a blue flu with CPD reluctance to really come down hard on those perpetrating the crimes for fear of losing their jobs or risking future promotional opportunities, should repercussions occur. The CPD should also be at higher staff levels, but certainly the city isn’t awash in cash at the moment.
Yes, we do need greater investment in the neighborhoods suffering from crime, underinvestment, unemployment, and poverty in the form of education, mental health assistance and gang intervention. But we also need to allow CPD the ability to perform their roles without fear from those formerly defund the police activists, some of whom are present in City Hall.
That said, assuming we had all of the above, we’d still be subject to the deployment of the Guard as it has nothing to do with our safety and more so as a preemptive strike on potential Presidential candidate Pritzker, who has the network and money to challenge. Trump who in my opinion based upon what has transpired over the past 7 months has his eye, although not currently possible, on somehow settling in for a third term, supported by his lapdog GOP and paramilitary ICE force.
Trump will continue to operate in ways that are self-serving and it won’t matter what happens in the City when the Guard is deployed. In fact, for reasons of optics, he may indeed want to see protests and potential disruption of his attempts to enforce his authoritarianism to further condemn Chicago, a strongly Blue city run by a Black Mayor, a faction he also wants to demonize, and Pritzker, his foremost challenger.
Anyway, my two cents.
Jim
This is also a helpful tool to understand the volume of crime that occurs and where :
ReplyDeletehttps://www.chicagopolice.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-in-Review.pdf
Its not that surprising that people have the impression its not very safe in the city because even though things have improved its still not good.
I haven't even got to the low level shitting in the doorway of your business types of things and smoking on the CTA trains while selling drugs stuff. Much of chicago is pretty dicey.
Still not call out the national guard level stuff but come on. You increase your chances of being a victim of crime when you come in from the suburbs and roam around Garfield park. Which is as I have said before where I live. You dont have to have great hearing to notice the nightly shooting, sirens and CPD helicopters . Stop by when your in the neighborhood next time. I'll show you around. I got an invite to a party at a friends Saturday night . She has an urban farm where my former goats live now. Starts at 8. Things will be jumping by 11. Catch the green line to the red line after. Quite a show!
A lie makes it around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on.
ReplyDeleteHow can we hold people accountable for their lies? I don't think we can with Fox and News Max, YouTube and Facebook, PragerU and OAN, or the right in any form it takes.
As i've been calling for months, we need economic boycotts. We need flower power in the sense that we should peacefully sit in and grind every day life to a halt. No crimes, no violence, just a red light to the world.
For the time being there must be something we can say to the Texas National Guard when we see them in the city... "Go home and vote for a democrat" might work. But so might calling them a fascist.
I spent the past week immersed in everything that makes Chicago extraordinary—riding Metra from Homewood to Millennium Station, catching Neil Young at Northerly Island on Wednesday, cheering on the White Sox vs. Yankees Friday night, marveling at the stunning Caillebotte exhibition at the Art Institute, and closing it out with the incomparable Jazz Fest at Millennium Park. Not once did I feel unsafe.
ReplyDeleteAs someone born and raised in South Shore, I wince when people sensationalize crime in Chicago. Yes, like any major city, it faces challenges—including crime, especially in neighborhoods struggling with poverty and gang activity. But painting the entire city as “crime-ridden” is a distortion. The truth is, most neighborhoods are vibrant, welcoming, and safe for residents and visitors alike.
Chicago is a city of culture, resilience, and character. It deserves to be seen in full color—not just through the lens of fear.
I understand ignoring statistics and showboating (we're getting unwanted and statistically unsupported expensive roundabouts throughout our county while ignoring failing bridges). But, I76 also understand that safety in monied neighborhoods is very different from their poorer counterparts. Have drug dealers move in next to you and you will see crime in a personal way. Not everyone has the resources to flee. The noise, profanity, filth, carnal and other physical acts were difficult, but the drive by shooting was the icing on the cake for us. Would we have welcomed the military? At that moment, with my mother and her grankids across the street, we would have wwlcomed BillyJack and Rambo, but apparently they're fantasies like effective police and judicial protection.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's true. But what's your point? Does bringing in the National Guard clean up Chicago's poorer neighborhoods? They probably won't even get there. Lots of people welcome fascism — that's why it succeeds. Although it isn't the supposed beneficiaries who are asking, but terrified outsiders, on their behalf.
DeleteOne of the reasons I think Fascism succeeds is because everyone views the bad things in their life as the other.
DeleteThen, when Fascism arrives and they are targeted, it becomes clear that it was never about the other.
There are proven ways to solve a lot of what effects our city (and the country) and not a single one of them has come from Republicans or their policies in the last 60 years.
But again, our problem is the truth. As is evedent by RFK Jr. and literally every other republican, their truth is lies. they cannot prove anything and yet the media believes everything they say.
The constant barrage of outright lies, intentional exaggeration, overt dehumanization to generate fear and hate is a feature, not a bug, of the current administration. The segment of the GOP that has been refining this administrative coup for 50 years or more is succeeding in its mission. The people who make the statements (such as the young Black woman last week welcoming Guard presence and some you note today) and write the letters (in papers daily) thinking that Trump's aim is to "help" are so sadly mistaken. It boggles my mind that they don't look beyond and ask the age-old questions about root cause and potential for real resolution, don't wonder why they hear only about crime in blue cities, aren't curious enough to think hmmm, that doesn't sound right and then type a few words into an algorithm-neutral search engine (is there such a thing?) to learn.
ReplyDeletePeople who are underscoring the real crime problem in the face of Trump's sending the army are like people in the 1930s, contemplating the growing crimes of Nazi Germany, and saying, "You know ... there ARE a lot of Jewish bankers..." They're accepting the false premise, at least half-way.
DeleteYou are absolutely correct. The fact that there is some crime in Chicago does not justify a police state. The presence of federal troops in Chicago violates the law, and therefore a crime; one we will come to regret.
ReplyDeleteIf military intervention was the answer to urban crime, it would have been implemented long ago by someone much wiser than the current guy. Trump is all about the show. His military parade was a bust so he's doubling down with military occupation.
ReplyDelete