Chicago alderman: Movement to defund the police has emboldened criminals
Former police officer and Chicago Alderman Anthony Napolitano reacts to gang plot against police officers.
Chicago Alderman Anthony Napolitano, a former police officer, encouraged city officials to request the National Guard be deployed to the city Wednesday, telling “Outnumbered Overtime” that "we need help.”
The Chicago Police Department has confirmed to Fox News that the FBI has sent out an intelligence alert warning area law enforcement of a pact among street gangs “to 'shoot on-sight any cop that has a weapon drawn on any subject in public'."
The "Potential Activity Alert" was sent out Aug. 26, according to WLS-TV.
“We have been made aware of this threat by a law enforcement partner,” a Chicago police spokesperson told Fox News on Tuesday. “The Chicago Police Department takes all threats against officer safety seriously and we will take all necessary measures to safeguard our officers.”
Napolitano told host Melissa Francis that he talks to police officers in Chicago “on a regular basis” and that “they realize what’s going on.”
“This anti-police movement, this defund the police movement has created a brazen attitude with criminals in the city of Chicago,” he added. "We knew that criminals were going to be so emboldened to put bounties on police officers. We saw this coming and we warned people of it and it fell on deaf ears and now we’re dealing with this just ridiculous ideology to defund the police, asking to take money away from the police.”
According to the Chicago Police Department, the city saw 387 shootings this past August compared to 214 in August 2019, an 81% increase.
CHICAGO WEEKEND SHOOTINGS LEAVE 10 DEAD, 45 WOUNDED – INCLUDING TWO POLICE OFFICERS
“Violent offenders have acted with impunity much more than we’ve seen in the past so far this year,” Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown said on Monday. “I think 51 officers being shot at or shot in one year, I think that quadruples any previous year in Chicago’s history so I think there’s more than the suggestion that people are seeking to do harm to cops.”
“We need more police officers in the street,” Napolitano stressed.
Some aldermen in Chicago have come in favor of taking money away from the police department to fund affordable housing, mental health programs, and other social services, CBS Chicago reported.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, however, reportedly said in June that it doesn’t need to be “an either/or proposition.”
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"I’m very proud that our mayor stood up against this and is supporting that this not going to happen, but you have aldermen getting ready to go into our budget in October and to pull funds away from the police officers and they’re selling false hope to communities like they are going to create businesses with this,” Napolitano said on Wednesday. “That’s not what we do, budgeting goes towards an umbrella to protect businesses and citizens in the city of Chicago so in turn we get more businesses to come here.”
He added that Chicago is “losing businesses because there’s no security here right now.”
Napolitano said at least ten aldermen are “selling false hope to people and this is wrong the way they’re going about doing this.”
Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.
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