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Chicago residents are calling for more police as crime continues to plague the Windy City, with the Trump administration considering sending in the National Guard.
“When I’ve been growing up actually, it wasn’t really as bad as it is today. When I was growing up back in the early 2000s… it was bad, but the kids nowadays, they’re just wreaking havoc in all of the neighborhoods,” Osiris King told Fox News Digital.
Illinois officials presided over a deadly Labor Day weekend as 32 separate shootings occurred in Chicago, leaving at least seven people killed and 37 others injured.
King, a Chicago native living on the South Side, said crime in the city has worsened.
“We didn’t play with guns, and we didn’t listen to drill rap music, like at this very young age. Like these kids are carrying guns, like around the age of eight years old. And they’re killing other eight-year-old kids with guns. It’s insane to me,” King said.
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“We need, I’d say, about 10,000 police. Me, personally, we do need mental health. Now, here’s the thing. If you want to have mental health and have a mental hospital, get these illegals out of here,” Dennis White, a former National Guard officer, told Fox News Digital.
“The shelter that you put these illegals in—use that as a mental hospital so they can get the help they need, so they can be more of a productive citizen,” White added.
White reacted after Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson dodged questions about whether the city needed more police during a tense interview on MSNBC last week.
Johnson avoided answering repeated questions from “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough about whether an increased police presence in the city would help cut down on crime.
“Do you believe that the streets of Chicago would be safer if there were more uniformed police officers on the streets of Chicago?” Scarborough asked Johnson.
Scarborough pressed the liberal mayor multiple times, and Johnson emphasized the need for expanded social programs, including affordable housing.
“I believe the city of Chicago and cities across America would be safer if we actually had, you know, affordable housing. Look, I’m not saying—” Johnson began, before Scarborough cut him off, noting it wasn’t the question he had asked.
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Alderman Nick Sposato, a self-described independent, said the solution is hiring more police.
“I think the biggest piece of the pie has to be more police officers, more protection. That’s what the people want. More visibility,” said Sposato, who has lived in Chicago for 67 years.
“I don’t know why he wouldn’t answer it,” Sposato added of Johnson. “I mean, he just refused to say we could use more police. He is a big believer of social justice.”
President Donald Trump last week floated sending the National Guard to Chicago to address the crime issue in the city after federal intervention in Washington, D.C., concludes.
Johnson pushed back, calling Trump’s plan a “flagrant violation of our Constitution.”
Chicago, which struggles with poverty and gang violence, has a crime rate above the national average, according to FBI data.
However, 2023 data shows several Illinois cities—including Chicago Heights, Danville, Peoria, Rockford and Harvey—recorded higher violent crime rates than Chicago.
“I mean, let’s be honest, with Trump sending the National Guard here, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know where he needs to send these people. He needs to send these troops or the military to these inner-city neighborhoods and the Black communities that are killing each other every single day,” Vashon Tuncle told Fox News Digital.
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“Innocents are getting hurt every single day, and they’re not just losing their lives when it comes to gangbangers and things like that. Actual children are dying as well, and it is just sad,” he added.
“I would be more than happy that he sent [the] National Guard, and I hope they are armed. That’s what I’m hoping for because [of] these gang members,” White said.
However, the alderman disagreed with Trump wanting to send the National Guard.
“I’m a big supporter of President Trump. I just think this is a terrible idea. These are military people. These aren’t police. They don’t have policing powers,” Sposato said.
The Chicago Police Department sent Fox News Digital the following statement.
“A conversation about CPD staffing which begins with the premise that there is a shortage of police officers starts in the wrong place. We can measure whether the number of sworn CPD members has gone up or gone down over time, but unless and until we know how many officers we need, we cannot assess whether there is a shortage,” said Inspector General Deborah Witzburg.
She went on to say, “The very first necessary undertaking is [to] right-size the footprint of the police department. That is, we need to decide which tasks and functions belong in the police department, and which ones belong somewhere else—whether that’s a community violence intervention agency, a social service provider, a behavior health provider, etc. Second, once we’ve determined what we want the police department to do, we need a robust, transparent staffing analysis to determine how many police officers we need to accomplish those tasks and functions. How many people will it take to equip the department to succeed? Then, and only then, can we assess whether we have a shortage of officers.”
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