When in doubt, blame the police
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel takes no responsibility for the city’s high homicide rate. Easier to blame Chicago cops.
When you’re seeking a second term as a big city mayor and reporters are peppering you with questions about the high rate of homicides, the last thing you want to do is take any responsibility. It’s much safer to just blame the cops.
Rahm Emanuel has not officially announced his candidacy for a second term as Chicago Mayor but based on a recent full-page letter published in the Chicago Sun-Times where Emanuel talks about his “vision for the city,” it’s is a pretty good indication that he’ll do so shortly.
Recently Emanuel appeared with New York Times columnist David Brooks before a live audience in Washington, D.C. When he was asked about Chicago’s homicide rate he quickly blamed the police department.
Emanuel said the Chicago Police Department was “slow to react” to the problem of internecine gang warfare but is “making progress now” under his leadership.
“We made some changes in the police department. I don’t think we were totally where we needed to be. We had arrested the gang leadership during my tenure correctly,” Emanuel told the audience. “So there was no leadership in these gangs. And they had to be broken down and dissolved. . . . and we as a police department and as a city, were slow to react to that.”
So why would Rahm, who is widely despised among working class Chicagoans, pull a cheap stunt like blaming the Chicago PD for local homicides?
It’s not hard to tell if you look at his numbers. One recent poll showed 50% disapproved of his job performance with just 19% leaning toward approval.
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