It's tough to make the case that Chicago is a safe place to live and work when three police officers are gunned down in two months, and a 13-year-old who just moved here is shot 22 times, execution-style, in an apparent case of mistaken identity.
Mayor Daley listens as Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis discusses the city's crime statistics. Daley, who was joined by Weis and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, announced new initiatives to fight crime. (Rich Hein/Sun-Times)
That's why Mayor Daley and Police Supt. Jody Weis are walking a tightrope on a crime issue that, polls show, is resonating with the public.
On the one hand, they're doing everything they possibly can without money -- with the city facing a record, $654.7 million shortfall -- to stop a raging gang war that's terrorizing entire communities.
On the other hand, they're fighting a public relations war. They're trying to persuade jittery Chicagoans to ignore the fear factor because, bad as it seems, crime is going down.
"The number of homicides today is far lower than a decade ago. But numbers don't provide much consolation if you've lost a family member or a friend to violence or feel vulnerable to its awful grip," Daley said Tuesday after a crime-fighting summit with State's Attorney Anita Alvarez, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and aides to Chief Circuit Judge Tim Evans.
Weis noted that crime has dropped for "19 consecutive months" and that July homicides were down 24 percent from the same period a year ago.
He blamed a "24/7 news cycle" for creating the mistaken impression that crime is on the rise.
"I would never stand here and say that the violence we're suffering in Chicago is acceptable. It's not. But I do think it's important to frame things. For the past 20 years, we were hovering in the 800-to-900 homicide range . . . We've cut that in half," he said.
Weis was asked why New York City's per capita homicide rate is so much lower than Chicago's.
In 2009, there were 16 murder victims per 100,000 residents in Chicago. That's at least double the murder rates in Los Angeles and New York at eight and six per 100,000 respectively. When it comes to robbery and aggravated battery, Chicago's rates dwarf those of L.A. and New York.
"When you talk about per capita, one of the most dangerous cities in the United States is Orlando. And what is Orlando known for?" Weis said, referring to Disney World.
"Unless you can articulate every demographic possible -- the number of gangs, the number of weapons -- [it's impossible to compare]."
The crime-fighting initiatives announced at the Austin District police station Tuesday are more of the same -- minus the infusion of cash and police bodies seen during better times:
"We tried to spread it out across the city. We haven't done this in a long time, if ever, and it really worked well. We had no shootings and no homicides over that weekend in those three districts," Weis said.
The stakes are high for Daley, who is expected to make crime a central focus of today's annual State of the City address. The mayoral election is just six months away. If he chooses to seek a seventh term, crime will be a front-and-center issue.
For Weis, it's about keeping his job when his three-year contract expires next spring. He's already offered to take a substantial cut on his $310,000-a-year salary. But unless the political heat lowers considerably, Daley will have a tough time taking him up on that offer.
