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A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 9 March 2017

American Living:

Chicago tries to learn from New York crime fighting success

DON BABWIN them. While the number community activists about proportionally affected where violent crime might
COLLEEN LONG of homicides surged to the excessive force. black and Hispanic men occur.
CHICAGO (AP) — Even highest in nearly two de- All this is a sharp contrast has plummeted in the past That gives officers instant
before President Donald cades last year at 762, the with New York, where the three years. Low-level pos- access to information
Trump tweeted a threat to percentage of those mur- NYPD during the 1990s session of marijuana is now both when they are in their
send “in the Feds” to curb ders solved by police fell turned to the “broken win- considered a ticketable squad cars and out on the
Chicago’s gun violence, ten points to 26 percent, dows” policing strategy of offense, and overall arrests street. This is significant be-
he was saying on the cam- cause there has been a
paign trail that there was growing concern that as
a simple solution to the officers become more de-
bloodshed: police should pendent on technology,
get tougher. Chicago they are more reluctant to
should follow the lead of get out of their squad cars.
New York City, Trump’s ad- “You are never going to
ministration has said, and get the community to like
crack down on even the you or trust you if all you did
smallest offenses. was race by at 30 mph and
It turns out Chicago Po- get out of your cars only to
lice Superintendent Eddie jack somebody up,” said
Johnson visited the New Jim Bueermann, president
York Police Department of the Police Foundation,
weeks before the Trump a Washington, D.C.-based
administration advice. But research organization. “It is
what he gleaned from a absolutely important to get
city that has achieved long them (officers) out of their
term success in fighting cars.”
crime was more nuanced Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks with residents of Chicago. Superintendent In two of Chicago’s most
than a Trump-inspired po- Johnson visited New York to learn how it has achieved success in fighting crime. Johnson came violent police districts
lice crackdown. home with ideas aimed at increasing community trust by using technology to get Chicago police where the technology was
Johnson came home with officers out of their squad cars and putting new cadets in neighborhoods to walk the streets. introduced last month,
ideas aimed at increas- (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford) the number of shootings
ing community trust by dropped dramatically
using technology to get according to a Univer- cracking down on minor dropped 20 percent in compared to February
Chicago police officers sity of Chicago Crime Lab offenses championed by 2016 from the year before. 2016 — 60 percent in one
out of their squad cars, study. In New York, police then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Since his visit to New York, and 40 percent in the
and putting new cadets in solve about 70 percent of That policy helped drive Johnson has begun apply- other. Johnson was also
neighborhoods to walk the homicides. the number of homicides ing what he learned about impressed with how rookie
streets and talk to locals. “We need them (witness- down in one decade from community policing with officers in New York are
“We are only as strong as es) to come forward and more than 2,200 a year to some encouraging results. assigned to more experi-
the faith the community give us the information fewer than 700. In New York, the depart- enced mentors around the
has in us,” Johnson said. so we can put these bad Since then, the number ment started giving offi- city. Trainees are pulled
Gaining that community guys in jail,” Johnson said. of homicides in New York cers smartphones that are from the academy to
trust will be a tall order In one example of Chica- has continued to decline. equipped with policing spend a week at a pre-
in a city suffering from a go’s dilemma, the police In January the police de- apps linked to federal and cinct house, in a patrol car
toxic brew of rising violent department is struggling partment announced that state databases. Statistics and then walk the beat
crime in some of its poorest to draft a new policy on there had been a near re- show the officers are rely- over a nine-week period.
neighborhoods along with the use of force. An Oc- cord low 335 homicide in ing on those phones more The goal is to get those of-
anger at police after the tober proposal prompted 2016 — less than half the and more. ficers into the community
release in 2015 of a video concern from the police tally in Chicago, which has In Chicago, those phones to meet people and learn
showing a white police of- union that the restrictions less than half the popula- are part of a strategy that how to interact with them.
ficer shooting black teen- were so tight officers would tion. And New York has includes sensors installed “Police officers are giv-
ager Laquan McDonald put themselves in danger done this with a lighter po- around neighborhoods ing their cellphone num-
16 times. to comply. A new draft re- licing touch. that alert officers immedi- bers and email addresses
That lack of faith has had leased Tuesday would give The NYPD has been mak- ately where and when a to residents so that they
grave consequences in police more latitude in de- ing a targeted effort to gun is fired and a comput- can have a constant dia-
Chicago where many ciding when to fire their repair damaged relation- er system that takes infor- logue,” New York Mayor
people living in high-crime weapons, which pleased ships with minority com- mation about arrests, 911 Bill de Blasio said after a
neighborhoods are reluc- the police union but munities. Use of the “stop- calls, gang activity and speech in Chicago on
tant to help police solve prompted concern from and-frisk” tactic that dis- other data and predicts March 3.q