According to The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel believes that the next step in the city’s quest to reduce gun violence is to litter the streets with more poorly trained, trigger-happy agents of government enforcement (police officers). Which should be odd, considering one of the biggest arguments in favor of gun control is that we cannot risk too many untrained, trigger-happy bystanders trying to save the day and shooting the wrong people. So this move is counter-intuitive, to say the least – especially for a city so pro-gun control already.
In the story:
“I’m working, (Police) Superintendent Eddie Johnson and I have been working through this for a while,” said Emanuel, who noted he is planning a Sept. 20 speech on policing. “And we will have the resources for more officers.”
The mayor was asked if he was just talking about keeping up with Police Department attrition or actually hiring new cops to patrol the city’s most violent neighborhoods, with a reporter noting that CPD currently has around 400 vacancies for sworn officers.
“That’s not true. That’s not true,” Emanuel responded.
Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Gugliemi, however, said the department is about 468 cops short of full staffing _ which is 12,600 sworn officers. Gugliemi said an additional 100 officers just graduated from the academy and an average of 200 to 300 officers retire each year.
In raising the notion of hiring more cops, Emanuel also stressed his usual talking points of needing stronger gun laws and more investment in struggling neighborhoods.
“It is a complex problem with multidimensional facets to it,” the mayor said of the city’s surging homicide numbers. “It’s not just about more police, but it will include that. But it’s also about more resources for our children, more resources for our neighborhoods, and stiffer laws that reflect the values of our city.”
It would seem that what is actually going on is a rising disarming of law abiding citizens, followed by a granting of special privilege to police to gun down whomever they see fit. Remember – when only the authority has the ability to tip the odds, the nightmare has become real.