Two years ago, Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old unarmed Mexican-American with no criminal record, was fatally shot by a white Chicago police officer named Eric Stillman as the boy obeyed the officer’s orders after a foot chase late at night. .
The murder raised public awareness of the police brutality in Latino communities, but Stillman has not been charged.
Since then, Chicago has managed to turn the tide of violent crime, thanks in part to investments in after-school programs for young people.
Homicides are down 20% from two years ago.
This is one version of events, the version preferred by the progressive left.
Another version is as follows.
On March 29, 2021, at 2:36 am, Stillman and his partner responded to a call that gunfire was in progress.
Stillman pushed Rubén Román, a 21-year-old with a criminal record, to the ground and chased Toledo, who was brandishing a 9mm pistol, down a dark alley.
Stillman yelled “let her go”.
Toledo threw her gun behind a fence and turned on him.
The officer fired the fatal shot less than a second after Toledo got rid of the gun.
Stillman immediately went to Toledo’s aid and called an ambulance.
Roman was cleared of shooting at a passing car; his lawyers argued that it could have been Toledo who fired the gun.
Stillman was suspended for administrative reasons.
Acting Chicago Police Superintendent Eric Carter recommended last week andHe fired Stillman.
Homicides have indeed declined in Chicago, but remain at some of the highest rates since the 1990s. and crime in general increased by 41% between 2021 and 2022.
Just this past weekend, mob crime spilled over into downtown Chicago as 11 people were killed and 26 injured in citywide shootings.
Perhaps there is a lesson in all of this, as simple and old-fashioned as it sounds.
When the bad guys break loose and the brave cops have to fear for their job for doing their job, crime tends to rise.
And when the national conversation surrounding the Adam Toledo tragedy turns to the split-second life-and-death decision of the officer, rather than the question
“What is a 13-year-old boy doing with a 21-year-old felon who fires a gun at 2:30 in the morning?” deeply confused about the nature of our problems, not to mention the path to a solution.
A similar dynamic is also taking place in other major cities.
Police morale is bad.
One way this shows up is in the high levels of voluntary resignations. and early retirementleading to severe staff shortages.
As of mid-March, New Orleans had 944 police officers, up from 1,200 just three years ago, despite increased hiring efforts.
Last year, the city saw a 100% increase in shootings compared to 2019.
“Criminals know there aren’t enough officers on the street! They know!” Delores Montgomery, a share-car driver, recently told NPR.
Fewer policemen; more crime – who would have thought?
New Orleans is not alone.
A recent academic analysis found that 11 of the 14 cities studied suffered higher-than-expected police casualties as a result of protests in George Floyd 2020, with Seattle losing most of its troops.
One possible unfortunate outcome, the study suggests, is that when good cops leave, the quality of new recruits also suffers.
This may help explain the appalling police brutality in the murder of Tire Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee in January.
Then there’s the other side:
The growing feeling of impunity among criminals.
In Chicago, the percentage of reported crimes that led to arrests, which was nearly 31 percent in 2005, dropped to 12.3 percent in 2021, according to an analysis last year by The Chicago Sun Times.
Even that figure may be lower than the real thing, as fewer crimes are reported to and from the city’s police.
In New York, where serious crimes increased 22 percent last year, shoplifting reports have nearly doubled in the past five years, while the arrest rate has nearly halved since 2017.
A report by Hurubie Meko in The New York Times notes that only 327 shoplifters accounted for a third of all arrests and that they had been “arrested and re-arrested more than 6,000 times”.
Why?
“Law enforcement and business groups have blamed the proliferation of organized gangs on shoplifting, repeat offenders and a new state bail law that they say has allowed these offenders to avoid jail time.”
In other words, the laxity in law enforcement regarding petty crime gave rise to major crime.
And the aftermath of alleged “victimless” crimes, such as shoplifting, has created a palpable sense of disorder, threat, and fear, all of which contribute to the “anything goes” environment in which crime invariably flourishes.
Will things get better?
Over time, yes, when a critical mass of voters will bring back the simple combination of common sense and political will.
But whether it will happen sooner or later is a difference to be measured in thousands of lives, harmed or finished by the crime we collectively let happen.
c.2023 The New York Times Society
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.