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A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 15 augusT 2023

Chicago’s newly selected top cop says reducing violence among

top priorities

By MICHAEL TARM Johnson and Snelling dif-
Associated Press fered on the use of a gun-
CHICAGO (AP) — A Chi- detection technology
cago native pegged as called ShotSpotter, which
the city’s next police super- its critics say isn’t fully reli-
intendent said Monday at able and disproportionate-
his introductory news con- ly targets Black neighbor-
ference that his top priori- hoods.
ties include finding ways to As a candidate, Johnson
tamp down violent crime. criticized the network and
Larry Snelling, 54, a former suggested ending its use in
police patrolman-turned- Chicago. Snelling has previ-
head of the department ously defended the system
counterterrorism division, as a valuable policing tool.
cited his own experiences When a reporter asked
in calling for a comprehen- Johnson Monday about
sive strategy to address the those contrasting views,
violence. Johnson said only that he
“I’ve worked in some of the and Snelling were commit-
most violent beats in the ted to “listening to each
city,” he said. other.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon While crime in Chicago
Johnson introduced Snel- often focuses on murders
ling at the news confer- Chief Larry Snelling speaks during a news conference at City Hall after Mayor Brandon Johnson and shootings, the numbers
ence as his choice to lead chose Snelling to be the next superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, Monday, Aug. so far in 2023 are down in
the 12,000-officer police 14, 2023. both categories by 5% and
force in the nation’s third Associated Press 10%, respectively, accord-
largest city. ment ranks and was now is a notoriously tough one “In order for our officers ing to the most recent de-
“He’s just a rare individual,” slated to become its top and many past heads to love someone else, we partment crime statistics.
Johnson said. cop. of Chicago police have have to love them,” he However, overall major
Snelling was raised on Chi- “At no point did I ever think lasted only a few years said. crime rates are up 35% so
cago’s South Side in areas I would find myself in this amid pressure from interest Johnson and Snelling spoke far this year over 2022.
he later worked as a patrol- position,” he said. groups, including the local in general terms and of- Both Johnson and Snelling
man and then as a com- Snelling has been chief of police union. fered no specifics on po- alluded to compliance
mander. the department’s bureau Among his other priorities, lice strategies, though Snel- with a court-monitored de-
He joined the department of counterterrorism, which said Snelling, was build- ling did briefly mention the partment overhaul plan,
in 1992. coordinates with the Office ing trust with communities need to build on the use called a consent decree.
Snelling was a sergeant un- of Emergency Manage- historically suspicious of of technology in fighting It, among other things, calls
til just five years ago, and ment and Communication police, ensuring high-level crime. for more community polic-
he told reporters Monday it and other city agencies, training for officers and at- That has, at least in the ing and expanded training
was still hard to fathom that since 2022. tending to officers’ mental past, been a point of dis- on the use of force.q
he’d risen through depart- The superintendent’s job well being. agreement.

Indiana teen who shot teacher and student in 2018 is ordered to

treatment center

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A a five-page order. 13-year-old student. The
teenager who opened fire A hearing has been sched- teacher, Jason Seaman,
at a central Indiana mid- uled for Oct. 4 to determine tackled and pinned him to
dle school in 2018, wound- where he will be placed. the ground.
ing another student and a He will be held in the facil- Seaman was shot three
teacher, should go to a res- ity for at least a year. The times, and the student, Ella
idential treatment center, judge ordered him to ap- Whistler, was shot seven
a judge ordered Monday. pear for a permanency times. No one was killed.
Hamilton Superior Court hearing in June 2024. Un- The teen was preparing to
Judge Michael A. Casati der Indiana law, he can be be released to his family
ordered that the now-18- detained as a juvenile until when on March 20, pros-
year-old be held in the the day before he turns 22. ecutors say, he assaulted
Hamilton County Juvenile The teenager, who was 13 a female counselor at the
Service Center for 120 days at the time of the shooting, Pendleton Juvenile Cor-
while a probation depart- had been detained since rectional Facility by “fist-
ment finds a suitable se- shortly after he opened fire bumping” her breast, then
cure residential facility for at Noblesville West Middle joking about it with other
Law enforcement vehicles are seen behind a school sign after
a shooting at Noblesville West Middle School in Noblesville, him, news outlets reported. School in May 2018. He juveniles. He was 17 at the
Ind., May 25, 2018. “The juvenile is a risk to the shot a seventh-grade sci- time and was charged as a
Associated Press community,” Casati said in ence teacher and another juvenile with battery.q