Call in the National Guard to fight street and drug gang violence in Chicago

Why I like Fritchey’s plan to call in the National Guard

By Ray Hanania

Street gang and drug gang related violence is out of control in Chicago. Something needs to be done.

The Chicago Police are overworked, and oftentimes because of political agitation and bad publicity – the CPD needs to do a better job of PR but they don’t – the neighborhoods where the crime is committed do not cooperate.

Although the murder rates have dropped in recent years from the highs of what they were a decade ago – as many as 660 murders in one year, maybe a third now – Chicago is still losing great young minds to needless violence by teenagers who are lost and career criminals who rule the streets and communities.

Most of the street gang violence is concentrated in about 9 percent of the city’s neighborhoods, according to published reports. That means we know where most of the violence takes place. The question for Police Supt. Jodi Weis, a good person with an impossible job, is why? Why can’t we crack down on these criminals.

State Representatives John Fritchey of the North Side and LaShawn Ford of the West Side have proposed this past week that the Illinois National Guard be called in to help patrol these neighborhoods.

That’s a great idea. I’ll tell you why. Sometimes the problem is perception. And the perception today is the Chicago Police can’t do the job themselves in curbing the violence in this most difficult of neighborhoods.

Young people are dying, usually innocent bystanders. The Fritchey and Ford proposal does several things to change those perceptions and, more importantly, make a difference:

First, bringing in the National Guard reinforces the confidence of the public in the neighborhoods, to give them more strength to stand up and fight back. That’s been a big problem. Many living in this crime infested neighborhoods rightly fear speaking out. They need support.

Second, the idea sends out a strong message to the street gangs there’s going to be zero tolerance for street gang and drug related violence and people with guns.

Why don’t we start treating street gang and drug gang members who carry weapons the same way we treat terrorists. Put them in camps and deny them their rights. Round them up and punish them. Force them to change their lives by forcing them to live in tough and brutal conditions.

Maybe there are some who can be saved if we can take them off the streets.

Third, and most importantly, it shows the world and especially the neighborhoods where these murders have taken place that someone cares. Maybe this will encourage more parents and homeowners in these crime infested areas to feel confidence that speaking out will make a difference, not result in retribution against them by the drug and street gang thugs.

Finally, calling out the Illinois National Guard to step in and help also sends a message to those people who think that street gang and drug gang are the problems of other neighborhoods. They are not. The Fritchey and Ford proposal will help makes those people living in more comfortable neighborhoods and the suburbs more aware of the problem and maybe they will start to think about ways we can help.

It won’t be easy sending in the National Guard. There are going to be incidents we might not like.

But the reality is if we don’t do something, the streets of Chicago will continue to be ruled by street gang and drug gang thugs and killers who have so little respect for human life that innocent little children are dying every week.

[Note: John Fritchey joins Radio Chicagoland this morning (Monday April 26, 2010) at 9 am to discuss his proposal. Listen to WJJG 1530 AM Radio or live on the internet at www.RadioChicagoland.com.  And call in at 708-493-1530 if you have an idea, too.]

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When they have to say it's safe, it's usually a problem

When village officials have to start reminding people that 1) their village is "safe," and 2) that a recent gun fight that took a 20 year old's life in an apartment complex not too far away from the village hall, and 3) that they haven't received any concerns from residents, you know either the elected officials are not that close to the community, or the place is going to hell in a hand basket filled with nice smelling attractive flowers.

That's what Orland Park village officials are saying one week after four teenagers and young adults got into a gun fight in an apartment building north of the village hall and near Frontier Park. One of the kids, a 20 year old, was shot dead. Another was taken to a hospital. The injured and two others have been charged in the incident with First Degree Murder, no small felony by the way.

Click here to read the Daily Southtown story about elected officials' reactions?

No one showed up at the board meeting the following Monday, trustees pointed out, to express their concerns. Well, the truth is no one shows up at any board meetings in Orland Park anyway. First, because most of the big deals are done deals before they get to public scrutiny, and second, most trustees and the village board are not very responsive with information on important stuff at all.

You do get some handouts on theatrical groups with insider clout, big awards and festivals, though. Although in fairness, the police were on top of the incident and they got the information out fast, to their credit, stemming the rumors that could have been and started out far worse when the gunfight at Pioneer Park took place.

The big question is the first test of the village's "Crime Free Housing Ordinance" which states that renters who commit crimes or who have guests that commit crimes shall be evicted from their rental premises.

It sure sounded like a great idea when it was passed. But I didn't hear any trustees talk about the victim, Jorge Mena, or the people he lived with. Maybe the shooters who committed the crime were not renters, so I guess that bright idea ordinance isn't going anywhere fast.

Well, this story is not over. The village should and is coming down hard on the three survivors. Let the investigation decide the circumstances of the victim, who lost his life.

-- Ray Hanania
www.TheMediaOasis.com

Un-neighborliness spreading throughout the suburbs

Usually it's all happy talk and ignored politics in the news in most suburban communities like Orland Park. But lately, the news has been filled with a lot of violence and un-neighborly misconduct.

Sunday, some kids got their hands on some guns and shot at each other near a park near the Village Hall. One kid died and another is recovery from wounds. The police arrested three kids, and ethnicity and race are issues, sadly. African American. Hispanic. Arab American. It also involved apartment complexes and crowded tenants. And, of course, according to the reports, the confrontation involved drugs.

Drugs and Guns are the real issue here. It happens in every race and culture. But, I guess I don't understand how kids can throw away their lives so easily. Police sound like they plan to seek the death penalty in the murder.

Read the story?

In another case, two neighbors got into a scuffle over something one of their wives did. Yes, one man told the other neighbor that he was upset because he threw a beach ball into their backyard pool. And the other man then threw the complainer into the lake behind their home, "damaging" his glasses and soaking his cell phones.

Read the story?

Water's not good for cell phones, I know that much!

How can two people who live next to a beautiful pond find the time to fight with each other over such trivial issues, especially when they have ducks and geese wandering all over dropping their "droppings" all over, too?

Duck and Geese droppings look like they belong to Doberman Pinchers or something. I'm not saying redirect the anger and kill the ducks or the geese. Chances are the fines are worse. but don't we have other things to talk about as "neighbors" than to be so uncivil to each other?

I know a neighbor who had their pool slashed -- no doubt by another neighbor. neighbors in the suburbs are not being so neighborly at all these days.

I didn't realize that neighbors in the suburbs knew each other enough to be angry at each other. Don't you at least have to know someone's last name before you throw them in a pond behind your house or damage their property? People in the suburbs moved to the suburbs to "not know" their neighbors. Suburbanites don't want to be bothered. So why would you then take the extra-ordinary step of committing some physical contact with your neighbor, like throwing them in a pool.

Parents walk their kids to school in the morning these days out of fear. About 30 percent of the fear is that some stranger will grab their kids. But the remaining 70 percent of the fear is that a neighbor will be unneighborly and do something worse to their kids.

Gotta protect your kids, family and property from suburban neighbors, I guess. While tip-toeing around the duck and geese poop.

-- Ray Hanania

www.TheMediaOasis.com

The nerve of Mayor Daley's flak, Jackie Heard -- everyone else is responsible except her

Mayor Daley's hard-to-contact press secretary Jackie Heard loves to play the powerbroker, ignoring community newspapers and writers, while defending Mayor Daley's litany of unending scandals. Although the proverbial "buck" is supposed to stop at Mayor Daley's desk, only 35 cents actually makes it there and the rest is blamed on everyone else.

And like her boss, Jackie Heard, the mediocre press secretary who is good at obfuscating and twisting, turning and wriggling out of everything, can't seem to dodge the criticism -- legitimate -- that she and her husband have a property that is reported to be a drug haven and street gang hangout.

Now, there are many homes in Chicago that are infested with street gangs and drug dealers, but when the mayor's own press secretary turns out to be the owner of one such property, you have to wonder about how effective she is standing up for the fight against street gangs and drugs.

Heard whined at a recent press conference -- where the community press is often excluded -- that she was being unfairly targeted, denouncing the Chicago Sun-Times story about her ownership of the controversial property. Read the Sun-Times story?

Heard is pathetic and typical of an administration that blames everything on everyone else and takes absolutely no responsibility. St. Jacqueline is above the ethics and morality that everyone else must adhere to, apparently, and she thinks that she's doing everything she can to rid the property of the alleged drug dealers and street gangs. Well, the fact is Jacqueline Heard is no different than anyone else and she should be held accountable for her actions, slow actions, in actions and arrogance.

The Sun-Times stood by the story, which was great. And monitoring what Heard does is something everyone in Chicago shoudl do. Because if the Mayor's own press secretary can't seem to do enough to crack down on drug dealers and street gang members, how can we expect the city to do it?

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com