Chicago’s top cop on Wednesday said he is confused about President Trump’s tweet about how to curb violence in Chicago.
“The statement is so broad. I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said of Trump’s Tuesday night tweet threatening to “send in the Feds!” if the city “doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage.'”
Johnson told the Chicago Tribune that he would oppose Trump bringing in the National Guard to help with the violence if that is what he means by his tweet. He also said that he hasn’t been contacted by the Trump administration and doesn’t think other city officials like Mayor Rahm Emanuel have either.
What Johnson would not oppose is increased assistance from the federal government, such as more FBI and ATF agents, or money for grants.
“We would use (federal funding for) mentorship programs, after-school programs,” he explained. “Those are the things I think we can use.”
Last year was the deadliest in Chicago in two decades, with 762 homicides, and violence has spilled over into January. As of Monday, 228 people had been shot in the city so far, and there have been at least 42 homicides. Both numbers are up from the same period in 2016, per the Tribune.
It is unclear what Trump meant by sending in “the Feds,” but on the campaign trail he did offer support for bringing back the stop-and-frisk tactic.
In the final days of the Obama administration, Chicago city officials and the Justice Department announced there would be a court-enforceable consent decree to reform the city’s policing practices, but the status of that is unknown under the new administration.
