CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Chisouthside

At the very least we usually get one big event every summer and things sort of taper off. Like last year the kid getting shot by millenium park, things didnt escalate as bad as far as i remember for the rest of the summer. And we got this out of the way fairly early in the year.

That’s almost always because the Loop gets a temporary police boost afterwards, which has to be done with overtime and pulling from surrounding districts.

There’s nothing inherently stopping this sort of violence every month, except that the chance of arrest increases with more police.

It’s not a force of nature.

[Chisouthside]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

That’s almost always because the Loop gets a temporary police boost afterwards, which has to be done with overtime and pulling from surrounding districts.

There’s nothing inherently stopping this sort of violence every month, except that the chance of arrest increases with more police.

It’s not a force of nature.

Oh yeah i know that. they lay low till the time comes again.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Chisouthside

Oh yeah i know that. they lay low till the time comes again.

That’s why I worry about current politics, because overtime for police in the Loop is something that can be sabotaged by the crazy left without having to go through city council.

And 3-4 extra teen riots per year absolutely would start having severe consequences.

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

That’s almost always because the Loop gets a temporary police boost afterwards, which has to be done with overtime and pulling from surrounding districts.

There’s nothing inherently stopping this sort of violence every month, except that the chance of arrest increases with more police.

It’s not a force of nature.

Alternatively, it could be described this way:

1. Something bad happens.
2. The police have a light shown on their unwillingness to police.
3. They get their act together to prevent it for the next couple months.
4. Back to Step 1.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by moorhosj1

Alternatively, it could be described this way:

1. Something bad happens.
2. The police have a light shown on their unwillingness to police.
3. They get their act together to prevent it for the next couple months.
4. Back to Step 1.

Blame the police for criminal behavior. Chicago is fucked.

Did you see the video of the woman who was attacked by BJs "demonized kids"?

[the pope]

Dear lord there's a lot of dog whistling on SSP nowadays.

[skysoar]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Blame the police for criminal behavior. Chicago is fucked.

Did you see the video of the woman who was attacked by BJs "demonized kids"?

No one is blaming the police for the unacceptable conduct of the individuals involved. People are baffled by the response of both the Mayor's office and the Police Dept. Brad Johnson is wrong in his perception of people demonizing the youth, they demonized themselves and we are simply stating the obvious. All that being said, everyone has a right to enjoy the city, but no one has a right to be unlawful and destructive, and if there are no consequences, then what are the incentives to stop.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by moorhosj1

Alternatively, it could be described this way:

1. Something bad happens.
2. The police have a light shown on their unwillingness to police.
3. They get their act together to prevent it for the next couple months.
4. Back to Step 1.

I’m sure you have never personally complained about the cost of police overtime.

Overreliance on police overtime is a policy problem.

Unless you’re suggesting that it’s better to redirect police from neighborhoods to the Loop on a full time basis. After all, the argument is that the police have no effect on crime rates. So by that logic it wouldn’t make a difference.

The city can’t routinely make employees work double shifts to make up for staffing shortages part of the year, and then complain about not having enough police on hand to respond to emergencies outside of high season.

Either increase the budget to fix the staffing on a permanent basis, or this will remain a permanent and increasingly dangerous problem.

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

I’m sure you have never personally complained about the cost of police overtime.

Overreliance on police overtime is a policy problem.

Unless you’re suggesting that it’s better to redirect police from neighborhoods to the Loop on a full time basis. After all, the argument is that the police have no effect on crime rates. So by that logic it wouldn’t make a difference.

The city can’t routinely make employees work double shifts to make up for staffing shortages part of the year, and then complain about not having enough police on hand to respond to emergencies outside of high season.

Either increase the budget to fix the staffing on a permanent basis, or this will remain a permanent and increasingly dangerous problem.

The poor police don’t get enough money even though their budget is constantly increasing year over year.

We need the police to be more effective at what they can actually address and use effective and rational solutions for all the other problems that get thrown at the police as if they’re the solution to all our problems.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

The poor police don’t get enough money even though their budget is constantly increasing year over year.

We need the police to be more effective at what they can actually address and use effective and rational solutions for all the other problems that get thrown at the police as if they’re the solution to all our problems.

The poor teachers don’t get enough money even though their budget is constantly increasing year over year.

We need the teachers to be more effective at what they can actually address and use effective and rational solutions for all the other problems that get thrown at the teachers as if they’re the solution to all our problems

——

I didn’t see any teachers, social workers or violence interrupters preventing or handling the violence the other day. These teens were just in school on Friday, supposedly. Wasn’t that the time for teachers to address some root causes?

Of course that is unfair to teachers, because they are not equipped to deal with or solve violence. Which is why extra money for weekend safe space activities led by teachers or whatever is complete BS. Only police can handle active violence.

If there are not enough police on standby to address incidents downtown or ideally to control access to transit stops before mobs coalesce in the first place, then hiring has to increase. Which means increasing the police budget for more salaries.

[twister244]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

If there are not enough police on standby to address incidents downtown or ideally to control access to transit stops before mobs coalesce in the first place, then hiring has to increase. Which means increasing the police budget for more salaries.

Yep - Agree 100% here.

You can't expect the police to cover all grounds and up their game while the rest of the city lays back and collects their paycheck and pension without putting more effort it.

[Chisouthside]

I think the budget is there but attrition has taken its toll and the academy courses cant keep up.

From
https://www.civicfed.org/civic-federation/blog/chicago-police-department-staffing-analysis

Active Sworn Officers

The Office of the Chicago Inspector General also publishes public data on the number of active sworn CPD members, which provides important insight into the number of actual filled positions among sworn officers at all ranks. This excludes civilian employees of CPD.

While the CPD has budgeted for 13,108 sworn officer positions this year, the number of active sworn officers was actually 11,638 as of June 1, 2022. Based on these figures, it can be assumed that approximately 90% of CPD sworn officer positions are currently filled.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Chisouthside

I think the budget is there but attrition has taken its toll and the academy courses cant keep up.

From
https://www.civicfed.org/civic-federation/blog/chicago-police-department-staffing-analysis

Active Sworn Officers

The Office of the Chicago Inspector General also publishes public data on the number of active sworn CPD members, which provides important insight into the number of actual filled positions among sworn officers at all ranks. This excludes civilian employees of CPD.

While the CPD has budgeted for 13,108 sworn officer positions this year, the number of active sworn officers was actually 11,638 as of June 1, 2022. Based on these figures, it can be assumed that approximately 90% of CPD sworn officer positions are currently filled.

In general if the number of people who retire is up and people hired down, it means the wages are not worth the conditions of the job.

If the hiring situation is not soon to improve, the city is going to have to move to triage, and some neighborhoods are going to get de facto “defund the police”

[Kngkyle]

Some really good news...

Lightfoot's gift to Johnson: A nearly balanced budget

In a major political surprise, the outgoing Lightfoot Administration is projecting that city finances will be in much better shape than expected in future years, with only relatively minimal shortfalls expected.

The administration says the projected budget gaps for three years beginning in 2024 will be just $85 million to $145 million per year — and that the gap will be slashed to a near-balanced $21 million by 2026 if its policies are followed by Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson.

....

As a result of that and more, the city actually ran a budget surplus of $554 million last year, with another $142 million expected this year.

....

The new projections assume a recession will begin later this year and continue into 2024, Bennett said. And it incorporates recent declines in the stock market, which last year reduced assets of the city's pension funds by about 11%, she said.

There are some catches here. This assumes increasing property taxes to match increases in CPI and putting all surpluses towards paying down pension debt. Neither are things that Johnson is likely to do based on previous comments. Regardless, Lightfoot is handing Johnson a city government that is heading in the right fiscal direction. I hope he doesn't 🞵🞵🞵🞵 it up. And cheers to Lightfoot for at least not messing this part of the job up.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by the pope

Dear lord there's a lot of dog whistling on SSP nowadays.

Yep, have been observing this creep toward more of it here.

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

The poor teachers don’t get enough money even though their budget is constantly increasing year over year.

We need the teachers to be more effective at what they can actually address and use effective and rational solutions for all the other problems that get thrown at the teachers as if they’re the solution to all our problems

I agree.

Originally Posted by galleyfox

I didn’t see any teachers, social workers or violence interrupters preventing or handling the violence the other day. These teens were just in school on Friday, supposedly. Wasn’t that the time for teachers to address some root causes?

Of course that is unfair to teachers, because they are not equipped to deal with or solve violence. Which is why extra money for weekend safe space activities led by teachers or whatever is complete BS. Only police can handle active violence.

If there are not enough police on standby to address incidents downtown or ideally to control access to transit stops before mobs coalesce in the first place, then hiring has to increase. Which means increasing the police budget for more salaries.

A majority of funding goes to the police and any alternative is anemic in comparison. The police supposedly don't have and can't hire enough people to be effective and excessive overtime is bad for everybody. Like I said, let the police handle what they are specialized to handle and move work that doesn't require physical force and carrying a firearm to other specialties.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

I agree.



A majority of funding goes to the police and any alternative is anemic in comparison. The police supposedly don't have and can't hire enough people to be effective and excessive overtime is bad for everybody. Like I said, let the police handle what they are specialized to handle and move work that doesn't require physical force and carrying a firearm to other specialties.

In other words, make a list of which neighborhoods don’t get police. I’m sure that will be an interesting experiment.

We can all be certain that the Loop and the North Side will be prioritized if Pritzker would like to have a career outside Illinois and not be the laughingstock of the world.

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by galleyfox

In other words, make a list of which neighborhoods don’t get police. I’m sure that will be an interesting experiment.

We can all be certain that the Loop and the North Side will be prioritized if Pritzker would like to have a career outside Illinois and not be the laughingstock of the world.

There would still be work for police in all neighborhoods... there are over 12000 of them remember...

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

There would still be work for police in all neighborhoods... there are over 12000 of them remember...

12K and rapidly falling.
Three shifts per day. 2 officers per unit. 77 neighborhoods.
Detectives working on investigations.
And the Loop needs extra full time patrols to handle riots.

I’m sure Roseland and Auburn Gresham will enjoy the skeleton crew and longer response times.

Sorry, that’s the mathematical reality.

[SIGSEGV]

you don't need extra full time patrols to handle events like this weekend. They are well telegraphed in advance. Just requires planning from the CPD and a little bit of flex. Same as you don't need extra full time patrols at 31st beach or north ave beach...

(and there are tons of cops downtown all the time, usually one on my corner, sitting in their SUV watching netflix or whatever).