Criminals in Chicago are literally getting away with murder as violent crime sees a historic surge while arrest rates plummet to just 12%.
Last year, the Windy City logged more than 800 homicides, breaking a 25-year record. And in 2020, the number doubled from the year before to more than 770. This means detectives must investigate more than two homicides a day, a mind-boggling statistic, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The newspaper conducted an investigation into police arrest statistics and discovered the 12% arrest rate was the lowest number since 2001. It has been dropping steadily for 17 years.
Los Angeles Police Department veteran Dennis Zine says he knows why. Zine has spent 54 years working for the LAPD, currently as a reservist after retiring as a sergeant. He is a former city councilman and an organizer for a campaign to recall District Attorney George Gascon.
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“All these cities with woke generation mentality like ‘defund the police,’ ‘neuter the police,’ ‘we don’t need the police,’ is affecting what we are seeing,” Zine told the Washington Examiner. “In Chicago, it’s one more aspect of ‘back off police.’ And they are backed off. Elected leaders are causing harm to the taxpayers, business owners, and tourists in these communities.”
Large left-leaning cities throughout America instituted mandates to curtail the use of force along with a defunding stance amid the backlash following George Floyd’s death. This included Chicago; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; and New York, Zine said.
Chicagoans are now seeing the effects of this, with suspect pursuits by police being curtailed both by car and on foot. So if a criminal runs away from a crime, there is little officers can do but stand and watch. And a stricter policy over whether cases are filed by prosecutors has many officers thinking it is not worth it to engage with suspects with guns.
“In the past, I might see a guy with a gun in his waistband, and I’d jump out and chase him,” an officer told the Chicago Sun-Times. “No way I’d do that now.”
Another officer said, “We can only support each other at the lowest ranks. And if that means going out there and not doing anything, then that means going out there and not doing anything.”
Los Angeles is seeing a similar problem with low morale and rising crime rates, though not as severe as in Chicago. A recent public crime alert warned about a rise in violent street robberies where victims were assaulted for their diamonds and watches. Now, people are advised not to wear their jewelry in public, Zine said.
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Arrests are down for LAPD by 15.8%, which is partially due to staffing problems. LAPD has 700 fewer officers than five years ago and has tried a variety of programs, including cash incentives, to lure new recruits, but so far, that gap has not closed, Zine said.
“This crisis is not getting better, it’s getting worse,” he said.
