Update by Hal Dardick at 3:26 p.m. with Quinn comment, homicide rate; originally posted by Hal Dardick at 1:56 p.m.
Mayor Richard Daley today reacted coolly to the idea that the National Guard be called out to help slow the violence on Chicago’s streets, as two state representatives had suggested a day earlier.
“Everybody knows their frustration, when one crime is one too many in any community — any death or any injury,” Daley said, taking a quick break from an international municipal conference to address the issue. “But like anything else, you have to look at long-term solutions. You can’t just put something temporary in there.”
“People have to get involved in their community, family by family and block by block,” he added. “Like anything else, that is the key. The community must be as upset as anybody else.
"And so you have to look for long-term solutions. There’s no quick band aid. You just can’t think you’re going to fix it in one weekend and walk away," Daley said. "And that’s what the problem would be.”
Daley’s remarks came a day after state Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford, both Chicago Democrats, held a news conference to suggest the National Guard be deployed in Chicago to quell the violence, at a time when the city’s murder rate is on the rise. They said as many people have been slain in the city this year as U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
While the city’s homicide rate is on an uptick in the early part of this year, it is generally down from years past, when more than 500 people a year were killed.
Gov. Pat Quinn said today that he will not deploy members of the National Guard to help patrol city streets unless requested to do so by Daley. Quinn said it could be counter productive to police efforts, as law enforcement officers and military personnel are trained differently.
The governor suggested the National Guard could be most helpful by providing intelligence assistance and the use of helicopters for aerial surveillance. But even that step would be extraordinary, and Quinn said it would not happen without a request from Daley — a possibility that seems remote.
Quinn was asked if the crime situation rose to the level of needing the National Guard, since the homicide rate is not higher than in years past.
"One homicide is too many in my book, and I think we should always look for every way to coordinate our public safety resource in Illinois at every level to make sure we have safe streets and safe communities and safe people," Quinn said.
Ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich was summarily dismissed by the mayor when he suggested sending in the National Guard two years ago, so Quinn took pains to try to stay on the mayor’s good side.
"It is, I think, imperative that any governor work always with local law
enforcement," Quinn said. "The notion of trying to step in, in any way step on the
toes of people who are on the front line every day fighting crime in
tough neighborhoods, I think is really not the way to go."
Mark Donahue, president of the city police union, said more police officers are needed, at a time when hundreds are retiring while hiring is slowed.
“Members of the Chicago Police Department can handle the situation with the proper resources,”Donahue said. “Right now, the proper resources needed are more police officers.”
Donahue also noted police officers are schooled in the federal and state constitutions.
“With the guard coming in, it’s making a statement that your constitutional rights will be diminished,” he said. “They don’t have the training that Chicago police officers do.”
The mayor also sounded his familiar theme of needing more gun control laws and suggested Fritchey and Ford back him in those efforts.
“This is all about guns, and that’s why the crusade is on,” Daley said. “We hope to get their cooperation in Springfield.”
Police Supt. Jody Weis, who was at the mayor’s side today, a day earlier said bringing in the National Guard was not necessary.
“Less than nine percent of the city blocks are really our problem areas,” Weiss said today, reiterating a point he had made earlier. “We can focus on that less than nine percent. That’s what we are going to do this summer.”
Daley also asked some rhetorical questions about how the National Guard would operate on the city’s streets.
“You put them on for a weekend, without ammunition?” he asked. “Think of the repercussions you have to look at. . . . A fully automatic weapon? It’s just the idea. You have to be very careful when you look at that. But everybody is open to suggestions. You need more resources, of course. . . . It’s something to think about, you can always think about it.”
Daley made his comments minutes after delivering opening remarks at the Richard J. Daley Global Cities Forum, attended by dozens of mayors stretching from suburban Channahon to Johannesburg, South Africa.
This year the conference is focused on public-private partnerships.
“Not long ago, it was very rare for mayors and other local government officials to truly travel outside their cities,” Daley said. “Nowadays, creating worldwide partnerships to help us share experiences and best practices with each other is a critical part of the hard work of any mayor in the world.
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