Can Chicago survive the current crime crisis?
New Beginnings Church Pastor Corey Brooks and Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara Jr. weigh in.
Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city, has beefed up the police presence in its downtown tourist district because of a recent rise in violent crime, according to a report.
An additional 200 police officers have been deployed specifically for downtown patrols, police Superintendent David Brown told Chicago’s FOX 32.
“They put together a plan because of the recent uptick and are implementing that plan immediately,” Brown said.
Recent incidents that drew the attention of authorities: Two large groups of men got into a fight Wednesday morning outside the Swisshotel, resulting in a 19-year-old man being hospitalized with a stab wound.
Also Wednesday, a group of people using city bike-sharing Divvy bikes surrounded a vehicle as an 82-year-old driver was being carjacked in the Streeterville district, home to the popular Navy Pier, FOX 32 reported.
In addition, Brian Hopkins, a Second Ward alderman, claims three security guards were recently hospitalized – including one with a fractured skull – because they tried to enter the site of a party that was being broken up.
“Right now, you have people that believe they can do anything downtown without any fear that they will be arrested or face any consequences at all,” Hopkins told the station.
“Right now, you have people that believe they can do anything downtown without any fear that they will be arrested or face any consequences at all.”
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Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill. – said to be in the running to become Joe Biden’s running mate – derided President Trump’s plan to send federal agents to Chicago to help quell violence there, claiming it was a “political stunt.”
“You cannot come in and politicize government in a way that attacks Americans peacefully exercising their First Amendment rights,” Duckworth said.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also initially resisted Trump’s law enforcement plan for the city but reportedly reached an agreement with the president for federal agents to focus on investigating crimes rather than confronting rioters.
Fox News’ Marisa Schultz contributed to this story.
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