57 People Shot, 6 Fatally, in Chicago Over Weekend

Chicago Police officers investigate the scene where two people were shot in Chicago. (Tyler LaRiviere /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Since Friday at 5:00 p.m., 57 Chicagoans have been gunned down. Six residents have been killed.

The Chicago Tribune reports:

“We know that some of these incidents were targeted and are related to gang conflicts in those areas,” said Chicago Police Chief of Patrol Fred Waller at a press conference Sunday afternoon.

Police said there was a “trauma lockdown” at Stroger Hospital with only immediate family members of victims are being allowed in the emergency room. A spokeswoman for Stroger Hospital disputes the police account.

“Over the past 24 hours, Stroger’s trauma unit received an unusually high volume of patients. At no time did Stroger go on bypass or ‘lockdown’ its trauma unit,” the spokeswoman said. “We are asking the families of trauma patients to limit visitation at this time to immediate family members only so staff may focus on patient care. “

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You know it’s bad when the city’s “go to” hospital is overwhelmed with gunshot victims.

In one shooting in the Gresham neighborhood, eight people were wounded, police said.

Police said a group of people, three teens and five adults, were standing in a courtyard in the 1300-block of West 76th Street at about 12:40 a.m. when several people approached on foot and opened fire at the group. The victims range in age from 14-years-old to 35 years-old.

Several had multiple gunshot wounds. All of them were transported to area hospitals and all are expected to survive.

No one is in custody in connection with the shooting.

That, in a nutshell, is one of the problems. Last year, Chicago homicide detectives solved just 17.5 percent of murders, the lowest rate since 1990. The police force simply isn’t getting violent criminals off the streets, leaving them to kill and kill again.

Two weeks ago, the city unveiled a draft reform plan that was crafted by the ACLU and Black Lives Matter, among other civil rights and community groups. Will it help or hurt police efforts to protect Chicagoans?

The head of the Chicago police union is adamantly opposed to the court-ordered plan.

The Chicago Tribune quotes Fraternal Order of Police President Kevin Graham: “The city and the attorney general have set a dangerous precedent by granting these groups influence into the policy of the Chicago Police Department. Their willingness to do so reveals much about the true nature of this agreement and the magnitude of the threat that it imposes.”

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“It is important to know that we at the FOP have tried to work with the attorney general of the state of Illinois, and they’ve refused to listen to us,” Graham said during a press conference at the police union’s headquarters. “On the other hand, the attorney general was more than willing to listen to groups that were anti-police such as the ACLU and Black Lives Matter.”

Getting those groups involved in the policy’s creation is “a disaster,” Graham said.

Does this sound like it would help?

Among other things, the plan called for overhauling the police department’s use of force policy and additional officer training in de-escalation strategies. The group also asked to remove officers from public schools and to reserve police intervention for “real and immediate” threats.

And, when it comes to officers’ use of Tasers, the group called for limitations such as prohibiting their use at schools and on pregnant women, children, elderly people, anyone in medical distress and those who are handcuffed or restrained.

The coalition also called for the city to step up its efforts to divert people from the formal justice system by, among other things, limiting arrests for victimless crimes.

Did the gangs write this thing or did Black Lives Matter?

Chicago has become a shooting gallery. This “reform” plan will almost certainly make the city even more unlivable than it already is and promises to empty Chicago of almost all but those who cannot afford to move.

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