Supt. David Brown says an investigation is underway and if responsible, officers will be held accountable.

There have been more than a million views of a viral video that surfaced several days ago showing three women “twerking” on top of a Chicago police SUV cruiser as it rolled down the street trailed by cell phone paparazzi.

There’s a lot of interest in seeing half-clothed women gyrating. I get that.

But recently, in this city, a 14-year-old girl was chased down and fatally shot while walking her dog, and a 7-year-old girl was gunned down while sitting in a car with her father at a McDonald’s drive-thru.

We should all be in mourning.

Instead, the young women on top of that police SUV were putting on a show for the very people who mock them in terms unfit to put in a family newspaper.

And they aren’t the only ones.

This appears to be some trend.

In Rochester, NY, two women talked a uniformed police officer into letting them “twerk” on his parked squad car.

Although the person who posted the video of the interaction called it “positive,” it drew a reprimand from the police chief.

Twerking on top of police vehicles has happened in Jackson, Miss., St. Louis, Seattle, and Miami Beach, and is largely viewed as an offensive act against police.

What makes the Chicago incident so interesting is the police SUV was slowly rolling down the street as if whoever was driving was in a parade.

A spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said the incident is under investigation.

Frankly, if allowing young women to climb onto a police cruiser and gyrate is part of the new community policing strategy, the police must go back to the drawing board.

Because if one of the women had fallen off the SUV and been run over, not only would the city be facing a huge lawsuit, but there is a real possibility that the partiers would have turned violent.

It is also disconcerting that residents in some neighborhoods, like Park Manor on the South Side, have been recently under siege by noise, loud music and inappropriate behavior.

“There seems to have been a coordinated effort to disrupt the 7400 blocks of Calumet and Prairie. There were hundreds of cars, trucks, and motor vehicles parading down our streets until 4:00 a.m. playing loud music, using profanity and displaying all types of anti-social behavior such as urinating in bushes near Salem Church at 74th and Calumet,” said Niena Feme, a 6^th Ward resident, in an email.

“As president of the 7400 Calumet and Prairie Block Club, I hope we can get some attention brought to this situation that is affecting the quality of life of our residents. We are stakeholders; we pay mortgages, taxes and are expected to maintain our properties. Yet we cannot enjoy a level of peace that any community would desire,” she said.

These community stakeholders are hosting a meeting at 6 p.m. June 17 at Salem Lutheran Church to air their concerns.

Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6^th) told CBS-2 he intends to beef up patrols, safety checks and tow illegally parked cars.

Given the violent battles between protestors and police officers that erupted after George Floyd was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis last year, getting worked up over women using a police SUV like a stripper pole may seem petty to some of you.

But it is not.

Frankly, Chicagoans, especially those living on the South and West sides, live with more lawless behavior than I’ve ever seen.

More motorists run red lights leading to more car crashes. Carjackings are becoming the norm. Expressway shootings are making us feel like targets.

Obviously, after being cooped up in their own homes for more than a year, young people are ready to cut loose.

And it is a shame that there are too few safe spaces for them to do their thing because of the ongoing violence.

Still, police are paid to keep the peace, not to facilitate the mayhem.

Read More

The incident happened about 12:45 p.m. June 1 in the 9100 block of South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago police said.

Police released images Wednesday of a vehicle wanted in connection with a fatal shooting last week in Princeton Park on the South Side.

The incident happened about 12:45 p.m. June 1 in the 9100 block of South Wentworth Avenue, Chicago police said.

Ogonnia Okeke was on the sidewalk when someone opened fire, striking him multiple times, police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office said. He died at the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Video released by police identified what appeared to be a black Jeep SUV as the suspect vehicle.

Anyone with information can call Area Two detectives at 312-747-8273.

Read More

Former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias has important early leads in endorsements and fundraising in the secretary of state’s race. Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia has also won crucial endorsements. But observers agree the race remains anyone’s game.

Though it shares a title with one of the top posts in the U.S. president’s cabinet, the Illinois secretary of state’s office shares none of the prestigious responsibilities of its federal namesake.

Instead of international diplomacy or foreign policy intrigue, the state office deals largely with driver’s licenses and license plates.

Nevertheless, presiding over that state office is one of the most coveted prizes in Illinois politics.

“Next to being governor, that’s the biggest political office statewide,” said former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar.

And harvesting that political plum typically involves plenty of Illinois domestic intrigue and campaign intelligence — if lesser amounts of diplomacy.

Right now, five Democrats are already waging a pitched battle to succeed retiring Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White — who, despite the rather mundane tasks involved, was regularly one of the Democrats’ top vote getters.

Political insiders say former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias is leading the pack, racking up crucial endorsements and building the most fully stocked political war chest. He is closely followed by Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia, who has won her own share of endorsements, but in the money contest has so far been outraised by Giannoulias more than five-to-one.

“Alexi has kind of set the curve and changed the standard for this race,” said Dave Mellet, a political consultant who helped Mayor Lori Lightfoot win office and is not aligned with any candidate in the secretary of state’s race.

“I think Anna Valencia — with the cash on hand she has and the money that she’s raised — she’s doing all the things that you would expect somebody running for a down ballot, statewide office to do, and she’s doing it well. It’s just really hard to be in the field against somebody who has that much money and is able to raise that well.”

But while the race is off to “very fast pace,” Mellet said it’s still anyone’s to win.

Rounding out the field are Aldermen Pat Dowell (3rd) and David Moore (17th) and state Sen. Michael Hastings, D-Tinley Park.

So far, no Republicans have entered the race.

One of the allures of the office is its potential to serve as a political stepping stone.

Edgar, a former Illinois secretary of state who parlayed his tenure into a successful gubernatorial bid, said the current crop of candidates may be looking to do the same, since the office offers plenty of the tools to do so, from jobs to fill to publicity to take advantage of.

“You also have respect throughout the state. Your name — next to the governor’s — is the most visible name in state government, because you’re on everybody’s driver’s license,” Edgar said. “There’s a lot of political advantages.”

Giannoulias already likely has the best statewide name recognition in the field, having served one term as state treasurer and waging an unsuccessful, but high profile, run for U.S. Senate ten years ago.

He’s got the money advantage — roughly $2.4 million, state board of election records show. And he’s bagged early support from the SEIU Illinois State Council, which will mean more money and boots on the ground.

The council includes SEIU Locals 1 and SEIU Healthcare Illinois & Indiana, which have an ownership stake in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Just as important, Giannoulias won the support of U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.

The Southwest Side Democratic congressman’s endorsement over Valencia, the only Latina in the field so far, could give Giannoulias a boost among Hispanic voters and progressives.

Edgar said getting those larger endorsements is especially important in a Democratic primary, where turnout is likely to be lower and “name recognition is the name of the game here.”

But Giannoulias’ early advantages don’t “guarantee he’s going to win it,” Edgar said, pointing all the “unknowns” that will determine how the race pans out.

“How they campaign and how the turnout is,” the former governor said. “Turnout is so important in a primary, because it’s somewhat sparse.”

In fundraising, Hastings is a distant second to Giannoulias. The state senator had $604,001.46 in the bank at the end of March. Valencia had $428,236.18.

Neither Hastings nor Valencia have reported any new contributions since then.

Dowell had just $67,880.79 on hand on March 31, and has raised $218,500 since then, meaning she likely has nearly $286,380.79 at her disposal. Moore had $73,986.58 on hand on March 31 and has added $2,500 since then.

Moore had $73,986.58 on hand and has added just $1,000 since then.

Giannoulias had $2,104,762 in the bank at the end of March and has raised $303,500 since then.

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, who weighed a run for the office herself but opted to support Dowell instead, said the race is “very fluid,” and while Democrats have a “good crop of candidates,” there’s also “a long row to hoe” from now until the primary.

“I think it’s early and I’ve seen lots of things happen over the course of an election cycle, but this one will be a long, drawn out process now,” said Yarbrough, who also represents Proviso Township in the party’s ranks and is a member of their statewide selection committee.

Mellet also stressed it’s too early to tell how the race will shake out. The Democratic consultant said Giannoulias’ strong war chest means he “doesn’t have to pinch pennies” and will be able to “sprint and force everyone to run as fast as they can behind him.”

That could mean early TV ads from Giannoulias in an effort to cement the lead.

But Valencia’s profile — a Latina from downstate who has City Hall experience, and name recognition, in Chicago — could help her overcome the early money imbalance, Mellet said.

Valencia was endorsed Wednesday by the national group Latino Victory Fund and has also received some union support and the early backing of Democratic U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood.

Dowell has shown an ability to raise money and a willingness to get around the state and meet local elected officials, a strategy that could see her rise as the race continues, Mellet said.

“Women, especially diverse women, have done really well in recent years, and this is a primary, and women are breaking through,” Mellet said.

Dowell has also taken a page out of White’s playbook — promising not to use the office as a stepping stone.

And she’s shown a willingness to mix it up on the campaign trail. The South Side alderman took a shot at Giannoulias for his 2014 endorsement of Republican Tom Cross for state treasurer.

Giannoulias brushed that off in a Cook County Democratic Party forum Saturday, saying he was just saying “good things” about the Oswego Republican, and “no one should question my commitment to the Democratic party.”

The Cook County Democratic Party is likely to endorse in the race in December, said executive director Jacob Kaplan.

And White, who won all 102 counties in 2002, said in a statement he doesn’t yet have a preferred candidate in the already “strong field.”

But the Near North Side Democrat plans to “keep the option open to making an endorsement at some point.”

Read More

The White Sox bullpen wasn’t all it was cracked up to be in the first few weeks of the season but with components like left-hander Garrett Crochet finding a groove since he came off the injured list four weeks ago, the relief corps is shaping up.

The White Sox bullpen wasn’t all it was cracked up to be in the first few weeks of the season but with components like left-hander Garrett Crochet finding a groove since he came off the injured list four weeks ago, the relief corps is shaping up.

Crochet hasn’t allowed a run in his last 11 outings, including eight since returning from the IL with an upper back strain on May 7. It’s a welcome development, especially with prized right-hander Michael Kopech on the IL with a hamstring strain.

“Now I’m just kind of attacking the zone and finding my rhythm from there,” said Crochet, who owns a 0.49 ERA over 17 appearances. “It was really just kind of a mindset change after going on the IL and that’s helped me a good bit.”

Crochet said he’s attacking from the first pitch on and finding his rhythm from there.

“You saw it at the beginning of the season to now, every time he goes out there he’s got more confidence, he looks more like the guy that ended [2020 season with five dominant, scoreless appearances],” manager Tony La Russa said. “Sometimes you’ve got to work on stuff to get it all together and it’s coming at a perfect time for us.”

Still only a year removed from getting drafted 11th overall last June, Crochet pitched a perfect eighth in the Sox’ 6-1 win over the Blue Jays Tuesday and collected a win. He struck out Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel, keeping the score tied at 1.

“That was a big-time assignment and he took care of it,” La Russa said.

Per FanGraphs, the Sox bullpen ranked second in the major leagues at 2.8 wins above replacement. The Mets were first at 3.1. Per FanGraphs, Crochet (0.5) trails only AL Reliever of the Month for May Liam Hendriks (0.9) and Kopech (0.6) among Sox relievers.

Reopening Day Tuesday

As promised, the White Sox will return to 100 percent capacity on June 25 when they host the Mariners at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The official announcement came Wednesday. The event will be called Reopening Night, marking the end of seating ponds and season ticket holders returning to their own seats. Postgame fireworks will go off for the first time since 2019.

Single game tickets to the remainder of home games go on sale to the general public at noon Tuesday on whitesox.com only.

Mobile ticketing, cashless transactions, level restrictions, enhanced cleaning measures as well as the no-bag policy (except for medical bags, small clutch purses that are 9” x 5” or smaller and diaper bags) will remain in place. Fans who are not fully vaccinated are encouraged to wear a face covering or mask.

Mercedes takes a seat

His .291 average at its lowest in 2021 on the heels of a 2-for-32 (.063) slump with two RBI in his last 11 games, designated hitter Yermin Mercedes sat in favor of Jake Lamb Wednesday.

After an historic start and AL Rookie of the Month performance in April, pitchers have adjusted, as expected.

“And he needs to make those adjustments,” La Russa said. “I can see that he is.”

Mercedes might have started if not for Andrew Vaughn’s big game Tuesday, La Russa suggested.

“I do believe it’s a combination of making the adjustment to how he’s being pitched,” La Russa said, “gaining experience and how they’re working him over.”

Read More

Jake Arrieta allows just one run on four hits over five innings in the Cubs’ 3-1 win over the Padres

SAN DIEGO – It wasn’t long ago Yu Darvish was the ace of the Cubs’ rotation, but after being dealt in the offseason, he took on his former club for the first time since the trade.

On the mound for the Cubs was Jake Arrieta, who seemingly replaced Darvish in the rotation after signing a one-year deal in February.

As the past and present collided in a battle of former Cubs aces, both starters brought their A-game, but it was the Cubs who topped Darvish in Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over the Padres.

“Just wanted to go out there and pitch well and help our team win the series,” Arrieta said after the win. “Obviously, Darvish is really good. He’s tough to beat every time he’s out there.”

The starting rotation has been one of the Cubs’ major flaws in the first half. After trading their best starter in the winter, it’s not hard to see why many wonder where the team would be if last year’s NL Cy Young runner-up was still at the top of the team’s rotation.

But the Cubs haven’t been able to dream on what ifs as they’ve fought to get near the top of the NL Central despite some of their rotation’s deficiencies.

Wednesday’s start was an important one for Arrieta, not only because of who was on the other side, but because he had been trending in the wrong direction for well over a month.

Arrieta came into the game with an 8.28 ERA over his last five starts, but looked like the pitcher who helped carry the Cubs in April.

Unlike his previous starts that were filled with traffic on the bases, Arrieta was able to get into a rhythm and got stronger as the game went along.

“Runs were going to be at a premium today,” Arrieta said. “Limiting base runners, I think I had one walk today. You have to limit the free bases, make good pitches and try to keep guys off the basepaths.”

Arrieta’s best moment came in what would be his final inning of the game and after former Cub Victor Caratini led off the fifth inning with a single, Arrieta struck out the side. He tossed five innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts and one walk.

“Had a good feel for pretty much everything other than the curveball for most of the game,” he said. “Really needed all of it to pitch well against that offense.”

“I thought Jake was really good today,” Ross said. “I thought he attacked the strike zone. It looked like the ball had real bite to it. … Big performance. … I thought he really had a game that was under control there and gave us a nice start to the game so we could wrap it up with the off day and go to that bullpen a little bit earlier than we probably needed to.”

Not only did Arrieta’s performance allow the Cubs to come back with two runs late in the game to take the series from the Padres.

The Cubs finished their West Coast trip strong with back-to-back wins entering their weekend series against the Cardinals and finished their season series against San Diego with an impressive 5-1 record.

“Just winning the series on the road against these guys after we swept them at home, that was really big,” Arrieta said. “That says a lot about our team. Having had a lot of guys banged up and guys coming and going and being able to pick up for the guys that are out of the lineup for an extended period of time. We’ve had a lot of guys do some really, really great things for us and this series was no different.”

Read More

Joc Pederson and Sergio Alcantara each homered in the Cubs’ 3-1 win over the Padres on Wednesday.

SAN DIEGO – The Cubs haven’t had their full lineup often recently and Wednesday was no exception. But even without Kris Bryant, Javy Baez and Willson Contreras, they found a way to score enough runs to finish the series with a 3-1 win over the Padres.

The Cubs didn’t have a hit off former ace Yu Darvish going into the fourth inning, but Joc Pederson made the team’s first hit a loud one, crushing a long solo home run tying the game at 1.

“The first at-bat, he didn’t give me,” Pederson said. “It just showed me that he’s kinda nasty. I was just looking to get a pitch that I could put the barrel on. He’s got a lot of pitches and they go a lot of different directions.”

While Darvish was tough throughout the day, the Cubs were able to break through in the seventh inning. Following Ian Happ’s lead-off walk and single by Patrick Wisdom, Anthony Rizzo brought in the go-ahead run on a double play and gave the Cubs a 2-1 lead.

Shortstop Sergio Alcantara, who started in place of Baez, gave the bullpen some breathing room in the eighth inning by hitting his first homer of the season, giving the Cubs a 3-1 lead.

“The walk that started that thing. That was a really good at-bat off Yu,” manager David Ross said. “Rizz doing a nice job there 3-2 putting that ball in play and getting us that go-ahead run is nice. … Then the homer by Sergio was huge. We’ve had little moments like that that can’t be understated all year where guys are just getting big hits.

Happ gets first start at second base since 2019

Ross has had to get creative with his lineups with so many players being banged up and unavailable. Ross added another wrinkle on Wednesday, starting Happ at second base. It was Happ’s first start at second base since Sept. 12, 2019 also in San Diego against the Padres.

Versatility has been the name of the game as Kris Bryant has shown this season while the Cubs try to tread water until they can get back to full strength.

“Last week when a lot of guys were going down, [Ian] just said, ‘Hey, if you need me, I can get back to the infield or I’m willing to do whatever,’” Ross said before the game. “That’s the kind of player he is. We got a lot of those guys. KB we talk about moving around and doing what’s best for the team. Same thing with Happ.

“He took some ground balls just to try to get some work in and make sure it looks clean and with Javy being out and then Sogard, just don’t want to run him in the ground with the off day. We’re just limited to what we got in the middle infield … I know he’ll go out there and give his best and give us a chance to win a play.”

Happ’s first opportunity came in the sixth inning and looked natural, making a sliding stop off a ball that took a sharp hop, fielding it and firing to first for the out.

Read More

A police watchdog agency on Wednesday released videos showing an exchange of gunfire last month during which two Chicago police officers were shot and a suspected gunman was wounded in Lawndale.

A police watchdog agency on Wednesday released videos showing an exchange of gunfire last month during which two Chicago police officers were shot and the suspected gunman was wounded in Lawndale.

Police said the incident unfolded after officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert shortly after 7 a.m. May 16 in the 1400 block of South Lawndale Avenue. There, they came across a man later identified as 45-year-old Bruce Lua, who they followed at a distance for several blocks while shouting verbal commands at him to stop, the videos show.

Video shows Lua continuing to walk away without responding.

Two officers then got out of their marked squad cars as Lua approached one of the cars in an alley behind the 1500 block of South Lawndale Avenue. One of the officers, who was wearing one of the four body-worn cameras that captured the incident, ordered him to stop and yelled, “Show me your hands!”

“Get your hands out of your pocket,” the officer, with his gun drawn, can be heard telling Lua on the video. “Dude, stop … get your hands up.”

Lua, who continues walking, then appears to pull a gun out a pocket of his white sweatshirt and fires a shot at an officer from point-blank range. Multiple officers then returned fire, hitting him, the video shows.

One video shows an officer fall to the ground as he returns fire. The officer can later be heard saying, “I’m hit, I’m hit.”

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO

Lua also dropped to the ground after he was shot and can be heard groaning, video shows.

“They shootin’ me,” he yells, to which an officer responded, “You shot at us.”

Police said they recovered a gun on the scene.

A 26-year-old officer was struck in the hand, and a 28-year-old officer was hit in the hip and shoulder, according to prosecutors. Both received treatment and were released from the hospital later that day.

Lua, a convicted felon, was awaiting trial for a pending misdemeanor assault case when he shot at the police.

Two days after the shooting, Lua was ordered held on $10 million bail for attempted murder, aggravated battery and unlawful use of a weapon charges in connection with the exchange of gunfire with cops.

Lua was also ordered held on $100,000 bail for his pending misdemeanor assault case.

Read More

A reflection on the museum’s storied past and more inclusive future

What do you get when a leather daddy and a librarian walk into a synagogue? Well, apparently, a museum.…Read More

“From music to meatballs and everything in between, Italians have contributed much to what this city and this country is all about,” said Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian-Americans.

Chicago aldermen agreed Wednesday to designate October as “Italian American Heritage and Culture Month,” thanks to a resolution one civic leader said is sorely needed to begin a “healing” process.

Ron Onesti, president of the Joint Civic Committee of Italian-Americans, made no mention of the specific wounds he believes need to be healed.

But members of the City Council’s Committee on Special Events, chaired by Italian-American Ald. Nick Sposato (38th), were well aware of the hurts Italian-Americans say they have suffered in recent years and months.

• Chicago Public Schools’ decision to designate Columbus Day as “Indigenous Peoples Day.”

• A failed proposal to rename Balbo Drive in honor of Ida B. Wells (Congress Parkway was eventually renamed for Wells).

• The midnight removal of two statues of Christopher Columbus.

Tyler LaRiviere/Sun-Times

Onesti noted Italian-Americans have made countless contributions since their arrival in Chicago in the 19th century.

“Music, culinary arts, science, dance, sports, architecture, paintings, medicine, sculpture, fashion, government. From music to meatballs and everything in between, Italians have contributed much to what this city and this country is all about,” Onesti said.

“But more importantly, I’m here to underscore the important symbolism this resolution would represent. … We truly believe initiatives such as this are part of a larger effort to begin the healing our severely-bruised city so desperately needs.”

The only way to “get back to a more loving, sensitive and productive society” is to recognize every group “woven into the fabric” of Chicago, Onesti said.

“We, the Italian-American community of Chicago, so desperately want to be a part of that healing process,” he said.

Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson (11th) said he is proud to join Sposato in co-sponsoring the resolution.

“It’s not only the festivals. It’s not only the music and the meatballs. We also have Dr. Fermi, Mother Cabrini. So many other Italians that have contributed to society here,” Thompson said.

“As the great-grandson of Italian immigrants who came here from Capistrano, Italy, I’m very proud. I know Grandma … would be very proud of me to be sponsoring this.”

Last summer, Lightfoot ordered two statues of Christopher Columbus “temporarily” removed in the middle of the night based on information that something bad was about to happen.

At the same time, the mayor argued, statues of Columbus in Grant and Arrigo Parks that had been vandalized repeatedly since the death of George Floyd should not be torn down, but rather used to confront the nation’s history and trigger a “reckoning” that’s long-overdue.

City Hall then launched the Monuments Project, and created an advisory committee to conduct a comprehensive review of more than 500 Chicago statues and monuments, with an eye toward identifying those that were offensive, problematic or not representative of city’s values of equity and justice.

To the chagrin of Onesti and other Italian-American civic leaders, the Columbus statutes have yet to be returned to their pedestals.

Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times

Read More

It could hardly be more tragic that the violent deaths of children is spiking even after years upon years of one police strategy after another, of one social program after another.

The front page of Tuesday’s Chicago Sun-Times could hardly have been more grim. Our city’s children are losing their lives to gunfire at a rate three times faster than last year.

It could hardly be more tragic that the violent deaths of children in Chicago is spiking even after years upon years of one police strategy after another, of one social program after another, of anti-violence funding that has started and funding that has stopped.

Children keep dying, shot sitting in a car in a McDonald’s drive-thru, shot visiting from out of town, shot at a West Pullman gas station. According to a Chicago Sun-Times analysis of shooting and homicide data, of the more than 1,500 shooting victims in Chicago this year, at least 53 were 15 or younger, compared with 43 last year. Of the 233 shooting victims 18 and younger, 34 died.

Eleven children lost their lives to gunfire in May, eight in April, five in March, two in February and five in January. After the Sun-Times story appeared, a 9-year-old boy was shot in the cheek while playing outside a home in Back of the Yards on Tuesday evening.

The toll rends the heart.

Caught in the crossfire

Many of the children who are being killed are not the intended targets, but are just caught up in crossfire. To protect them will require an all-out — and sustained — effort to reduce shootings in the city.

The higher numbers of shootings, both overall and those of children, should upset anybody. It may be tempting to dismiss urban violence, the shootings and killings, as gang members shooting other gang members. But we can’t fool ourselves. When so many innocent kids are being shot and killed, there is no excuse not to care.

We also would argue that no young person should be written off as irredeemable.

We have written about this many times, to the point that we find it frustrating. But we know there are, in fact, at least partial solutions that work: Summer jobs, jobs in general, summer programs for kids, after-school programs, police strategies of proven effectiveness. And we have to keep pushing. We have no choice.

To give up on all this is to give up on kids like the 14-year-old girl who was gunned down on June 2 after her attackers asked her if she was in a gang.

Things that work

Illinois’ $42.3 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year includes money for violence prevention programs such as after-school activities, and summer youth employment. It’s not enough — it’s never enough — but the idea is exactly right, which is to give kids something to grab onto, a rope that can lift them out of a life surrounded by violence. We need to offer young people more good choices and not as many bad choices. We need to do a better job of keeping guns out of the hands of those who shouldn’t have them.

As an example of what can work, there is the Heartland Alliance’s Rapid Employment and Development Initiative, which connects Chicago men, most of whom have been shot or arrested, to intensive programming, jobs or job training and trauma-informed supports. Preliminary results of a study of the program, by the University of Chicago Crime Lab, show that participants are 40% less likely to be victims of gun homicides or shootings.

We need to invest in communities and create safe spaces. People who have lived through one shooting after another are traumatized.

In it for the long term

Short-term programs or police crackdowns won’t be sufficient. Better schools, summer jobs, summer programs for kids, after-school programs, violence interruption efforts, jobs programs and other initiatives need to be in place over a long period — years and decades — until their cumulative effect makes a difference.

“You may need to get a generation of people through good programs before you start to get traction,” said Maryann Mason, director of violence and injury research at the Buehler Center for Health Policy and Economics at Northwestern University.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, firearm targets have been a little older on average, Mason said, and the older they are — say 25 to 30 years old — the more likely they are to have children with them.

At the same time, police say, gang members are less concerned about young children getting caught between them and their targets. Partly that’s because gangs have splintered into smaller units and no one is enforcing a street code that says gang members should never shoot a child.

Triumphing over gun violence is a long game. We cannot quit.

Send letters to [email protected].

Read More