How Chicago Police Department - and Police Supt. Garry McCarthy - treat different wards diffrently

[strannik01]

On Tuesday, I spent five and a half hours at the Chicago City Council Budget Committee meeting as alderman after alderman complained about Chicago Police Department Superintendent Garry McCarthy. This came a day after most ofthe Chicago City Council Black Caucus said they wanted McCarthy Fired, for a whole bunch of reasons. He failed to stem the

Comments

[yan]

it's the budget committee; I don't know anything about [anything] Chicago but my guess is, the bigger part of budget income should correlate with greater political influence, does it? No influence -- no attention; for that chief (I guess) the poorer wards are just place to work and get headache, not resources, who would like that!

[strannik01]

I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say, but if I do understand you correctly... CPD gets its budget from Chicago as a whole, rather than on ward-by-ward basis. Political influence might be a factor - a friend of mine suggested that 1st and 49th wards get more attention because of Ald Moreno and Ald Moore's roles as Emanuel's allies.

It's also important to note that, while Budget Committee doesn't include all aldermen, all aldermen can come in and speak. During the meeting, I think that only 3 out of 50 aldermen didn't come to speak.

[kaffy_r]

I live in the 49th, and I think you're right about Moore's role as an Emanuel backer getting more police help for the ward.

Admittedly, that help is needed up here, but the way to answer the 49th's needs isn't to take from the south and west sides. The answer is to hire more police, train them better, school them in sensitivity to the communities they serve, and swallow the cost because it's necessary.

[strannik01]

During the hearing, McCarthy actually talked about some kind of sensitivity training program. He mentioned that it would include teaching conflict de-escalation and how to respond to mentally ill individuals.

One of the parts that didn't make it into the article is htat McCarthy kept mentioning some kind of new community engagement program that would be unveiled "in a few weeks," but he didn't provide any details.

[kaffy_r]

Long on vision, short on details ... again, as I said elsewhere, plus ca change.

[hettie_lz]

I heard McCarthy on NPR, and he was saying to the effect that yea, I never work with any aldermen directly, there are too many of them to call on each of them and ask, there are better ways and I have no idea what they want from me

[strannik01]

Then the man clearly doesn't understand how (for better or for worse) Chicago government works.