A good portion of Chicago appears to be a war zone with each gang trying to kill members of other gangs. Whether it’s for increasing their territory, business competition or a perceived slight, it should be called terrorism. It is no different than what is happening in many cities and towns in Central America, Africa, and the Mid-East. They are just as terrorized as people in those areas.

In Central America, the federal government would send special troops in black uniforms and automatic weapons to “eliminate” the problem. Our country (Pre-Trump) would criticize the civil rights violations publicly while giving covert support. Such actions would never be allowed here. Just as in these areas, the bad guys range from young kids to hardened adults who think nothing of killing someone.

People watch “Blue Bloods” because they obey the rules. We watch “Chicago PD” because they put people away, legally or otherwise. In those terrorism areas “Blue Bloods” touchy-feely doesn’t work. Aggressive policing does. When a cop is in a homogenous area, racial profiling is obviously happening. Filling out tons of paperwork to explain why the person was stopped in ridiculous. Some good people will be harassed along with the bad.

The problem has grown progressively worse since the sixties because of the effective enforcement. Yes, a few people were forced into false confessions. The overall effect was to jail the gang leaders which fragmented the gangs. As those new leaders were jailed, fragmenting continued.

How to solve the problem is purely subjective. Some say eliminate gangs by arresting them all but that would require lifetime sentences for any crime. Another group says give them jobs. Few have any skills or work ethic which an employer would want to risk financing a business. The wages would have to be overly generous to compete with some of the income from illegal activities.

I wonder if it is possible to eliminate the terrorism aspect in the affected areas once it becomes part of the neighborhood culture. The one thing I am sure of, touchy-feely police tactics isn’t going to abate terrorism. In fact, I think it probably increases illegal activities by decreasing pressure on the gangs. The justice department should stay out of community enforcement until they come up with a real solution. They want touchy-feely and it won’t work in a war zone.

—END—