In Chicago, “18 people were killed Sunday, May 31, making it the single most violent day in Chicago in six decades, according to the University of Chicago Crime Lab. The lab’s data doesn’t go back further than 1961. From 7 p.m. Friday, May 29, through 11 p.m. Sunday, May 31, 25 people were killed in the city, with another 85 wounded by gunfire, according to data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times.”
Here is what Reverent Michael Pfleger told the paper, “I heard people saying all over, ‘Hey, there’s no police anywhere, police ain’t doing nothing. I sat and watched a store looted for over an hour. No police came. I got in my car and drove around to some other places getting looted [and] didn’t see police anywhere.”
This is horrific. I don’t pretend to have the answers to this. End the drug war, yes. Clearly deep socio-economic problems are at play. But it does seem obvious that the people most at risk from inadequate policing are those in the most distressed neighborhoods where violent crime is high. We need reformed policing, not no policing.
Tags: crime, george floyd