“Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson expresses frustration at the pace of gun violence in the city.” That’s the terse some-might-say jaundiced description provided by The Chicago Tribune underneath their YouTube excerpt of Sup. Johnson’s most recent press conference. A PR event stimulated by a weekend wherein 52 people were shot.
The city’s outpacing last year’s shooting total by a long chalk. Last year, 2,988 Windy City residents were ballistically perforated. So far this year, 2600 suffered the same fate. Regardless, notably absent from both the Superintendent and the Trib: any mention of the “g” word.
“Year-to-date, 2016, nearly 85 percent of our shooting victims, both fatal and non-fatal shootings, have had prior contact with the police,” Johnson reveals. Speeding tickets? I don’t think so. Hello? We’re talking gang bangers banging. Period.
“We’ve identified that small segment of individuals behind this violence,” Johnson reveals. But their days are numbered, he promises. There’ll be more prosecutions of…gang members!
Only Superintendent Johnson can’t bring himself to mention the criminal segment’s group affiliation by name. They are the Black Disciples, Insane Popes, La Raza, Maniac Latin Disciples, Simon City Royals, Spanish Gangster Disciples and Spanish Lords.
There. That wasn’t so hard, was it? Maybe not as easy as calling for gun control, but easy enough. As it says on my long slide 1911, know your enemy, know yourself. Otherwise bad things happen.