IT WAS Eddie Johnson’s first big test. Memorial Day weekend usually marks the start of the most violent period of the year, as the crime rate rises along with the temperature (see chart). Thousands of officers patrolled the city’s parks, beaches and neighbourhoods, including Mr Johnson, the boss of Chicago’s besieged police force since April, who worked a night shift. Fixed-wing aeroplanes circled the area’s expressways, which have recently seen a spike in shootings. In the run-up to the weekend Mr Johnson launched one of the biggest anti-gang raids in Chicago’s history, resulting in the arrest of 140 gang members and the seizure of numerous guns, as well as drugs apparently worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Considering the steep rise in gun violence this year, the sheer size of Chicago’s territory, the complexity of its social problems, the large number of fractious gangs with ever-younger members and the recent breakdown in trust between residents and the Chicago Police Department (CPD), Mr Johnson has taken on perhaps the toughest job in law enforcement in the country. The results of the Memorial Day operations were mixed:...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1Ui3PJR
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