Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot flat-out lied about crime trends in the city during a press conference on Monday afternoon as CPD officers were informed that the department will cancel some of their days off beginning late Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, social media rumbles indicate that organizers are trying to stage an encore performance of the “large group” incident that left a 15-year-old shot and a CTA bus driver beaten in the Loop over the weekend.
Flat-out false
During a Monday afternoon press conference, Lightfoot told reporters that “this is a very challenging time” as the city surpasses 800 homicides for the year.
Lightfoot went on to claim that every other crime category is at 25-year-lows in Chicago, according to a tweet by Crain’s reporter A.D. Quig. Tribune reporter Gregory Pratt tweeted a similar account of Lightfoot’s claim.
The mayor lied. She didn’t misspeak. She lied. Because she certainly knows the truth.
According to CPD’s latest CompStat crime report, criminal sexual assaults are up 27% this year compared to 2020. Theft is up 18% and motor vehicle theft is up 6%.
Carjackings, which are not listed on the public version of the CompStat report, are up 30% compared to this time last year, according to the city’s data portal, with 1,633 hijackings through November 28. There were 1,256 as of November 28 last year.
Non-fatal shootings, also not included on the public CompStat report, are up 8.2% compared to this time last year, according to the city’s “violence dashboard.”
Unless and until the mayor and police leaders are willing to be honest about the challenges they are facing with public safety, nothing will improve. Oh, they may “win” some soundbites from reporters who air their false claims without challenge. But that won’t fix the problems we all wish they would address.
Canceled
The office of CPD’s second-in-command, First Deputy Supt. Eric Carter issued a memo at 5:20 p.m. Monday that cancels one day off for all officers beginning with cops who report to work late Wednesday night. A copy of the memo was provided to CWBChicago by a source. Normal schedules will resume Monday morning, December 13, according to the memo.
Carter did not provide a reason for his decision.
We think we know what it might be…
“Part 2”
A social media account that is responsible for publicizing last Saturday’s “large group” event in the Loop shared plans for a follow-up event yesterday evening.
The original announcement called for “Part 2” to start at 6 p.m. Friday at Millennium Park. By noon on Monday, that announcement was removed and replaced by an identical post with the date changed to Saturday, December 11 at 6 p.m.
So-called “trends” have had varying degrees of success in the past, with some drawing no crowds to the Loop and others attracting hundreds.
But, it’s a good bet that CPD has become aware of the efforts to generate a “Part 2” and that’s why cops will be having one fewer day off in the days ahead.