If the railroad company and police officers involved are telling the truth, anger against the Chicago bait trucks is intellectually decrepit and morally pathetic.
Because contrary to reports that suggest the police have been using already open bait trucks on railway tracks, the authorities say their trucks were sealed at all times. Their contention is supported by at least some photographic evidence.
Yet Chicago chief of police Eddie Johnson is backing down. He says Chicago will “see if there’s something we can do better.” I would have a far simpler response were I the chief of police: “If you don’t want to go to jail, don’t steal things.” Unfortunately because Chicago is run by Rahm “Rahmbo” Emanuel (who is the perfect opposite of the movie hero Rambo) and served by a police force that needs reform, it’s no surprise that the presumed forces of law and order are retreating.
That said, those campaigning against the sealed bait trucks have utterly ridiculous rationales for their ire. Speaking to WTTW, one activist, Jedidiah Brown argued that the trucks are about “entrapping black people.” Brown adds that “It was infuriating to hear the police say that they have time to create scenarios to entrap citizens that they’re supposed to be protecting – especially black and brown, which the relationship is completely already in shambles. It was insulting as a citizen.” Brown is now suing the city to release those arrested in the sting.
Alderman Roderick Sawyer echoed this sentiment. “And we’re creating crime? I just don’t see … why would we do that? This just further separates us instead of bringing us together.”
Here’s the thing: unless the bait trucks were left open (which would be wrong to do, but not really entrapment), the lawsuit has zero chance of success.
First off, the truck was sealed by safety wire – thus obviating any argument of entrapment. The need to cut the wire to access the truck means the criminals accused of doing so performed that act with the intent to permanently deprive the perceived trucking company of that which they knew was not theirs. They did so with malicious intent (cutting the wires) and no remorse (extricating themselves from the scene after their criminality). The actus reus and mens rea of theft is clearly established.
Moreover, to suggest that this police operation was somehow racist is itself racist. That’s because the only logical basis on which the police could rightly be described as racists here is if black people are somehow especially predisposed to criminality. I do not believe it.
More broadly, there is no evidence to support the complainants’ argument that these stings were about entrapping black people per se.
The truck in questions was set up in a high crime area. (Click on this map and check out the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.) So introducing a crime-fighting tactic in a high-crime neighborhood ought to be seen as allocating resources where they are needed rather than targeting minorities. After all, law abiding mostly-minority residents in those neighborhoods have most to gain from the prosecution of criminals operating in their neighborhoods.
The truth about aggressive policing – which this obviously represents – is that it must always be calibrated to the law and to the needs of the community. Cops don’t always accomplish this balance. Still, I believe the police met the moral and legal justification for their operation here.
No one put a gun to the head of the accused criminals who are alleged to have broken into bait trucks and stolen goods. They made that decision freely and they should face the consequences for their crimes. Chicago needs innovation if it is going to confront its astronomic crime rate. Considering that the broken windows strategy of policing was instrumental in bringing down New York City crime rates, the same strategy is worth applying in Chicago.
