Chicago’s new Police Chief vows to reduce crime in city; needs help from community

By Chinta Strausberg

 

On the job for three-weeks, the 52-year-old Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy Sunday spoke at Saint Sabina church where he said he’s not afraid to talk about the race factor but he is focusing on reducing crime.

A relaxed McCarthy said he spent 25-years with the New York Police Department (NYPD) and said in 1999 there were 2,245 people murdered. Then New York City Mayor David Dinkins said to “do something.”

McCarthy did. His efforts reduced that number to 450 last year. “In Chicago, last year there were 450 murders. That is not OK,” McCarthy said.

Saying no one has ever “cured” crime, McCarthy said, “The police cannot arrests their way out of crime. It has to be done on another level, on the moral authority of the community” and changing their mindsets.

Saying he is not afraid to talk about race, McCarthy said he was born in the Bronx where “gangs, drugs and guns” the same problems he is facing in Chicago.

McCarthy ticked off several era’s of black history including slavery, segregation, the Black Codes. “What did they all have in common?” He said the answer is “government sponsored racism.”

McCarthy wants to work with the community to reduce the number of shootings and killings in Chicago.

 Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host.