On my way to work today I heard on a Chicago radio station that King Richard, mayor of Chicago, doesn't want help from the Illinois National Guard to help curb the violence in Chicago, he wants more gun control. I did a google search to find out what was going on and discovered it's nothing more than Daley's same ole stuff. He just doesn't get it. Where I live in Michigan we get a lot of Chicago people, affectionately referred to as FIPs. Friendly Illinois People. Unfortuneatly one of those FIPs is King Richard whose family has had a vacation retreat in the south county area for decades. Posted below is an article to the Chicago Sun Times and the article.
King Richard is right on one account. It is only a Band-Aid. Until the failed social programs are fixed and lawful citizens are allowed their firearms rights the problems will continue.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/cityhall/2201982,national-guard-daley-crime-chicago-042610.articleDaley: National Guard only a 'Band-Aid' solution to crime
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April 26, 2010
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
Calling out the National Guard to help stop the bloodbath on Chicago streets is a "Band-Aid" solution with dangerous "repercussions," Mayor Daley said today. But, he did not dismiss the idea outright.
"Do you put 'em on for a weekend without ammunition? Think of the repercussions you have to look at. Are they situated with fully-automatic weapons? You have to be very careful," Daley said.
» Click to enlarge image
Supt. of Police Jody Weis and Mayor Daley take time away from the 2010 Richard J. Daley Global Cities Forum to take a few questions from the media.
(Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)
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Weis: National Guard isn't solution to city's gun violence
"But, everybody is open to suggestions. You need more resources, of course. ... It’s something to think about. ... But, you have to have to look for long-term solutions. There’s no quick Band-Aids. You just can’t think you’re gonna fix it in one weekend, then walk away. And that’s what the problem would be."
Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue was less diplomatic. He warned that National Guard troops "don’t have the training that Chicago Police officers do," nor do they have the same respect for civil liberties.
"It’s making a statement that your Constitutional rights may be diminished," he said.
"Members of the Chicago Police Department can handle the situation with the proper resources. Right now, the proper resources needed are more police officers."
In Year Two of a hiring slowdown, the Chicago Police Department is 700 officers short of its authorized strength and more than 2,100 officers short each day, counting those on medical rolls and limited duty. Nearly 130 more officers are due to retire this month, 109 of them taking advantage of Daley’s offer to let them retire at age 55 with premium health benefits.
"When we negotiated for the 55-and-out, the city was asked what their intention was in dealing with shortages this will cause. They assured us they would replace those officers as they retire. They have not done it," Donahue said.
Two years ago, Daley ridiculed then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich for offering state troopers and National Guard equipment to combat Chicago crime the governor called "out of control" at the same time Blagojevich was cutting the state’s law enforcement budget.
The image — or even the possibility — of state troopers and National Guard equipment patrolling Chicago streets would have generated negative headlines around the world at a time when the city was still vying to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Now, the mayor’s Olympic dream is dead. But, the death toll on Chicago streets is rising.
So far this year, 113 people have been killed — matching the death toll of U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period.
On Sunday, State Representatives John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford raised the National Guard idea once again. Only this time, Daley did not dismiss it.
"Everybody knows their frustration. One crime is one too many. In any community, one death or one injury," he said.
But, Daley once again tried to change the subject to the need for, what he calls "common sense gun laws."
"The gun industry is the strongest industry in America. Someone said they really own America," Daley said.
"I know Fritchey and Ford are crusading against guns. ... If you have a gun without an F.O.I.D. card, and you’re arrested, instead of saying good luck and let you go, don’t you think they should have some responsibility because that gun is more likely to kill somebody. This is all about guns — and that’s why the crusade is on. We hope to get their cooperation in Springfield."
Quinn said today he only considers sending in the National Guard when a mayor asks him, and Daley has not asked him. He'd be happy to help with "intelligence or aerial surveillance" if Daley and Police Supt. Jody Weis want that. Asked if he thinks Chicago needs the National Guard on the streets, Quinn said, "I'm going to leave that judgment to the police officers who are on the beat."
The last time federal troops patrolled the streets of Chicago, it was after the deadly riots that followed the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King.
"We’re in trouble. We need some help," then Mayor Richard J. Daley told then-President Lyndon Johnson in a recorded phone call released last month.
When Johnson asked how many troops Chicago needed, Richard J. Daley replied, "At least 3,000." Johnson countered, "Yeah, well, you better say 5[,000.]" Daley then asked for 5,000.
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