Another Loss for Law and Order in Chicago
But in other cities failed Justice reformers are on the run
The Mayor of Chicago and ShotSpotter
When the NYPD contract with ShotSpotter was announced in 2015, I scoffed. A technology that uses an array of very sensitive microphones to triangulate the noise of gunfire seemed like something that would not work well and would not have much of a payoff if it did.
Well, I was wrong. ShotSpotter was an excellent tool. Cops would get an immediate alert when the sound of gunfire was picked up by the ShotSpotter system. Cops could be there before a concerned citizen got on the phone to 911, dramatically decreasing response times. Integrating several technological developments, cops could hear the actual audio right on their phones or computers in near real time. They could often tell if it was a real shots-fired job, or the occasional false positive that the system picks up (fireworks or car backfires usually).
This gave valuable intel on location, direction, sometimes caliber, and number of shots, that in the past may have gone unreported if no one was struck. It could be used to identify incidents of potential gang violence and help cops plan for the retaliation that so often follows.
Chicago Police also adopted the technology. It appeared effective and the 85% of the citizens of that city beleaguered by gun violence supported the program. Cops there claim that ShotSpotter leads directly to the confiscation of over 500 guns per year. Seems like a win despite the high price tag.
Enter Mayor Brandon Johnson, the failing mayor of Chicago. Johnson ran on a promise to get rid of ShotSpotter. He referred to the ShotSpotter technology as “$100 million walkie talkies on sticks” – no doubt his well-informed analysis.
Johnson and many of supporters feel that ShotSpotter is….wait for it….RACIST! I know you are shocked, but Johnson seems to see the specter of racism around every corner. But now his claims are affecting the safety of Chicago. Gun violence is the town’s biggest and most public problem. Johnson is abandoning an effective solution because many think that the fact that ShotSpotter is overly deployed in minority communities. The system is allegedly increasing police contacts with its residents. He wants to use other, undetermined, strategies that increase “safety and trust”.
He also argues the cost of the system, but the Chicago Police want to keep it. Most Chicago Aldermen have pushed for its renewal. Johnson himself has no concrete plans for the money that would have been spent on the technology.
So now the beleaguered Cops of Chicago are without another tool. ShotSpotter has been replaced by nothing. There doesn’t seem to be a plan. Mayor Brandon Johnson has managed to make his town less safe. Voters get their just rewards.
Woke is Losing
As Chicago loses its patience with its anti-law and order mayor, the citizens of Oakland have had enough. As the city collapses in upon itself, the voters have finally – and belatedly – taken some serious action.
The voters of Oakland and Alameda County appear to have chosen to recall Mayor Sheng Thao and District Attorney Pamela Price by overwhelming margins.
This is a win for law and order. These two have been doing their best to bring about the final destruction of the long-failing city.
Mayor Thao is a woke disaster, failing to secure funding for the Oakland Police, allowed homelessness to grow, stood by as Oakland Police manpower shrunk by 15%, and generally proved herself to be an incompetent. Recently the FBI raided her home to collect evidence in a corruption probe. That’s not helping her prospects.
DA Price is not much better. Her campaign was financed by George Soros, and that should tell you all you need to know. She has reduced sentences for murderers, released parolees, and failed to prosecute serious crimes. Price has also signed “Special Directive 23-10”. This directive orders her prosecutors to not seek maximum sentences without a supervisor’s approval due to the racial disparity of sentencing. She also hired her boyfriend to a $130,000 position in her office without disclosing their relationship.
It is good to see that the citizens of Oakland have had enough. Pervasive crime, mismanaged government, multiple franchised businesses leaving the city due to safety concerns, and a general flight from the once great metropolis have severely damaged Oakland. The Raiders left in 2019, and this year Oakland Athletics pulled up stakes. Oakland appears to be doing something about its plight, but it might be too little, too late. We hope not.
Oakland wasn’t the only place in California to say no mas’ to their woke District Attorney. Los Angeles County voters gave Soros funded George Gascon the boot as well. Gascon also banned sentencing enhancements, refused to seek the death penalty, lessened juvenile prosecutions, and stopped asking for bail for most arrestees.
The people had enough of that. They said no to open lawlessness, homeless encampments, open air drug bazaars, and everything else that signals a societal breakdown. They elected tough on crime former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman. Good for them!
Thanks for reading The Ops Desk. Stay Safe!
"Gun violence is the town's biggest and most public problem."
No it isn't. Not even close. Corrupt leadership. Lying. Self-deception. Prosecutors who won't enforce the law. A teachers' union that is not merely out of control, but beyond control. All are at least as public, and more damaging.
Gun violence is just a symptom. When the good citizens who are most affected by it -- the ones who go to the funerals of the little kids, who discuss when they will next see their imprisoned sons and nephews, who deal with the wounded and their wheelchair ramps and colostomy bags -- when those folks, mostly black women, have had enough, they will finally confront the real problems, and then the shooting will stop.
Shot-Spotter is utilized in Wellington NC.