[This is the fourth in
a series of articles
on the dark money behind urban decay in the United States. Mr. Nelles will next explore the challenges facing Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri.]
Chicago
has a long history of being a hub for manufacturing and transportation. From its stockyards to its rail junctions, the Windy City is the route that joins the East and West Coasts. And although the “democratic machine,” otherwise known as the labor union mafia, has long ensured that Republicans will never hold any office of merit in the city, most of Chicago’s mayors and state’s attorneys (Chicago’s version of a district attorney) have until recently tried to be moderate in their approach to governing the city.
But like many major American cities, Chicago is experiencing monumental decay. Mayor
Lori Lightfoot
is a progressive mayor who has spent the majority of her tenure attacking the police and accusing anyone who dares to challenge her of being racist, misogynistic, and homophobic. She even declared racism in Chicago a
public health
crisis.
State’s attorney Kim Foxx supports Lightfoot. A leftist prosecutor first
elected
in 2016, Foxx ran on a
platform
of “collaborating with all stakeholders to reform the criminal justice system.” Since her election, Foxx has had a number of high-profile cases where she refused to prosecute criminals, including
Jussie Smollett
, who was later tried by a federal prosecutor — against Foxx’s recommendation — and ultimately convicted of faking a hate crime
Unsurprisingly, Foxx received more than $2.4 million from George Soros-funded super PACs across her two campaigns.
Equally unsurprising, the crime rate has skyrocketed under Foxx’s tenure. In
2022
, Chicago saw motor vehicle theft increased by 95%, theft increase by 50%, and both burglary and robbery rates increase by 10% from the year before. Shootings and murders were down compared to the pandemic-driven highs, but Chicago did lead the nation in murders, with 732 people killed in 2022.
While crime skyrockets, Foxx has spent her time choosing not to prosecute criminals and prevent police officers from aptly fighting crime. In August 2021, for example, a 7-year-old
girl
was killed under a barrage of gunfire that also critically injured her 6-year-old sister. After two weeks of investigating the crime, detectives had developed evidence sufficient to charge a suspect. The police brought their case to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Felony Review Unit, which, under the direction of Foxx, refused to bring charges.
In October 2021, Foxx’s office went one step further and refused to press charges against five gang members involved in a deadly shooting, releasing them without charges based on something called “mutual combat.” Mutual combat is a legal term used to define a fight or struggle that two parties willingly engage in, per
NBC Chicago
.
How are police in Chicago responding to Foxx’s unwillingness to prosecute violent criminals? First, they are quitting in droves. Since 2019, more than 3,300 officers have left the Chicago Police Force, with only half of those officers being replaced by new recruits, according to
CBS 2 Chicago
.
Sadly, Chicago police officers are also taking their own lives at an alarming rate. A U.S. Justice Department report found that the “
suicide
rate of Chicago police officers was 60% higher than the national average for members of law enforcement.” No fewer than 20
Chicago police
officers have taken their own lives since 2018.
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Foxx is not personally responsible for the suicide rate of Chicago police officers. But when you combine her unwillingness to prosecute the crimes that officers strive to protect the public from and Lightfoot’s outright disdain for police, it is no wonder that Chicago and the city’s law enforcement are shells of their former selves.
Jim Nelles is a supply chain consultant based in Chicago. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
