No, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Doesn’t Need More Funding. It Needs You to Support Police
On Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump tweeted the early crime statistics for Chicago in 2017, noting that murders are already “up 24% from 2016” in the city. Trump warned that if Chicago leaders fail to effectively address the city’s skyrocketing murder rate, he will have the federal government intervene:
If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017
Tuesday’s tweet marked the second time this month that Trump has called attention to the city’s disgraceful body count and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s failure to effectively address it. Trump tweeted the 2016 crime statistics for Chicago earlier this month, again with a vague, yet ominous warning of federal intervention:
Chicago murder rate is record setting – 4,331 shooting victims with 762 murders in 2016. If Mayor can't do it he must ask for Federal help!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 2, 2017
On Wednesday, Rahm Emanuel —Chicago’s progressive mayor, and former Obama chief of staff — offered a smug response to Trump’s criticism: If federal intervention means more money, bring it on.
“Chicago, like other cities that are dealing with gun violence, wants to partner with federal law enforcement entities in a more significant way than we are today — whether that’s the FBI, the DEA, and the ATF,” Emanuel said, per USA Today.
“I still firmly believe that part of that solution is resources to police and resources that can come in technology and that space. Over the years, the federal government when it comes to after school (programs), summer jobs and investment in kids has walked away, while we’ve had to step up and take responsibility.”
Emanuel has used the “not enough funding” excuse countless times during his mayoral tenure, raising taxes and passing expensive gun control legislation that has drained the already-bankrupt city, with virtually nothing to show for it.
Chicago’s crime epidemic has little to do with money and everything to do with the failure of city officials to support police. Because of this failure, the Chicago Police Department has experienced what City Journal contributing editor Heather Mac Donald calls “the Ferguson effect: the phenomenon of police officers in high-crime areas backing off of proactive policing, resulting in the emboldening of criminals.”
Many officers have commented on the stifling effect this abandonment has had on department morale. Speaking to The New York Times last month, Dean Angelo Sr., president of Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police union, condemned what he perceives to be the politicization of policing by city officials. He added that many Chicago leaders are “more anti-police in their platform as opposed to being anti-crime.”
Poor community-police relations are just part of the many cultural problems the city of Chicago is facing. Other issues include family breakdown, gang culture, failing public schools, and apathetic and/or clueless community leaders. All of this points to Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s gross failure to “step up and take responsibility” (to use his own words) for the citizens of Chicago.
The best thing the Trump administration can do is continue to call attention to Rahm Emanuel’s failure to serve the people of Chicago, and to be a strong advocate for police everywhere. It’s something the Obama administration certainly failed to do, and it wouldn’t involve lining the greedy pockets of the notorious Chicago political machine. (For more from the author of “No, Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Doesn’t Need More Funding. It Needs You to Support Police” please click HERE)
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