Yes. If we take away money from the chicago police department and use it to fund social programs designed to attack the sources of crime (poverty, lack of education meaning more poverty, etc.) rather than funding cops we’ll see fewer shootings.
At the very least there won’t be as many by the Chicago PD.
Yeah, here we are…
I didn’t make the point to double down; I simply questioned the amount of violence in Chicago.
Great, we’re having a dialogue!
People who are trained in de-escalation behaviors (which includes the actual military, but more often is social workers, etc.) would put us on a very different path. Right now, a young black person knows that they are likely to die, or die in prison, if a cop decides to go after them. This means they are more likely to run or fight at any hint of a problem, because they are in survival mode. And that survival mode is pretty much 24/7. It makes for jangled nerves, hot tempers, quick escalations, etc. Chicago is the birthplace of redlining, so we’ve been working against the African American community being a fully recognized part of our society for a long time. How do you have pride and a sense of civic duty when you’re not allowed to own anything of value? How do you build toward a better future?
We need the citizens of Chicago – all races and communities – to feel safe when they need help. Right now, law-abiding citizens feel they have more in common with the suspects than with the police. Especially since the suspects are often just teenagers being stupid for a moment, and if they were white, it would barely be a blip in their life’s trajectory.
While ignoring the prime perpetrators of that violence.
Please explain your social programs
Thank you
Dude, do your own homework. We’re not your own personal google here.
I’d like to point out that it’s not my place and it should probably be someone who’s actually educated in the field to plan out. I spent my 4 years learning how to make computers do stuff. If you look up “police abolition” a bit I’m sure you’ll find some suggestions for this by activists who have spent years thinking about it.
Thanks @anon67050589 - Dialog is the way forward. You’re obviously well spoken and intelligent.
I agree that these young people are in survival mode.
I don’t condone redlining; it’s terrible.
I agree everyone needs to be safe, regardless where they’re from. That’s a basic human right. If only that was true in Englewood, Garfield Park, and Austin!
I agree education is the path to a good life.
And yeah, teenagers do stupid teenager things.
Here’s the most terrible part; most of the dying is done by young black men in Chicago [according to stats].
Where does the violence end, folks? Another 15 shot and 5 dead and it’s only Tuesday…
As someone who has lived in Chicago for well over a decade, the answer is obvious to me. Get rid of the ghettos and promote home ownership, like what Chicago did for pretty much every ethnic group except one. Make access to education more egalitarian instead of funneling all the money into places like Whitney Young. End food deserts by incentivizing smaller local grocery stores and community supported agriculture, which pilot programs have shown to have promise. Likewise, discourage gentrification for obvious reasons. And also defund, and definitely demilitarize, the police, who rarely live in the neighborhoods they police and are trained to see the residents as enemies.
Tl;dr: basically defund anything that keeps people in their place and reinvest that money into literally any part of the social safety net.
Also, please don’t use my city as your personal boogeyman. Kthxbai.
All I can think of is how many pot holes you can fix, how many hospitals and clean waterworks you can build with that stupid amount of money there. Just WOW
Imagine a school if you took the police out and put books and other learning resources in.
Or how much affordable housing (not condos with tax breaks) you can build. It just boggles my mind.
Or food: imagine if people had enough to eat on a regular basis and could have healthy choices instead of whatever is on the dollar menu because that’s all they can afford.
Thanks @DonatellaNobody
The situation in Chicago is not a personal boogeyman; it’s real with real problems. I’m not denying that. And neither do you.
You’re right about Whitney Young! Why is that?
Food deserts? Yeah, so wrong. Why is that?
Community supported agriculture? Right on!
Take a look at: https://www.chicagoagr.org/
Police seeing residents as enemies; that’s wrong
You left out jobs? When’s the last time you’ve heard about a major employer locating to the south or west sides of Chicago, instead of downtown?
I agree!
I’ll take “Institutional racism” for $200, Alex.
Besides that, I’m sure @Robert_Tervin can give us some specifics.
How’d you like your socialist stimulus check?
