Chicago Can't Live Like This Anymore

For more information about gun violence in Chicago, see this blog post.

On May 25, 2020, a white Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd, a black man, by kneeling on his neck*, thus sparking many protests and demonstrations seeking justice for Floyd and condemning police brutality. The first of these protests reached Chicago four days later, on May 29th, when people gathered in Millennium Park. However, it was not until another two days later, on May 31st, that then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on Governor J.B. Pritzker to officially send the Illinois National Guard to Chicago.*¹ Since the National Guard has dealt with the protests in Chicago before, now is the right time for the Guard to be deployed to the city to curb its gun violence problem. While Chicago has had a rocky relationship with the National Guard in the past, it is imperative that Chicago re-strengthens its relationship with the National Guard to prevent any more violence from happening because they can be used to supplement and support the existing police department, they are extensively trained professionals, and they have a lot of people to cover the most violent neighborhoods.  

The Chicago Police Department has had a history of police officers leaving the force in recent years. According to data obtained by WTTW News, the number of sworn police officers dropped approximately 13% between August 2017 and June 2022, and approximately 1,000 officers left the Chicago Police Department in 2022. According to former Chicago mayoral candidate Paul Vallas, that led to over 50% of high-priority 911 calls having no officer available in 2023—up from 19% in 2019—and officers making arrests in fewer than 12% of all crimes in 2022. In addition, arrests overall were down 50% between 2019 and 2021. To circumvent this issue, the city should stop spending $337 million² on police overtime and canceling officers’ scheduled days off and instead, according to 41st ward council member Anthony Napolitano, let the officers be relieved by National Guard troops so that they can be allowed to rest. 

Another reason why the Guard is good for Chicago is that they are extensively trained professionals with enough background knowledge to perform military tactics and de-escalation strategies if necessary. All National Guard members must complete ten weeks (about two and a half months) of Basic Combat Training (BCT; also known as boot camp), the same camp attended by their full-time Army counterparts.^ Immediately following BCT³, they will have to complete 4 to 52 weeks⁴ of Advanced Individual Training (AIT), depending on the job they are assigned³ and the skills needed to fully perform that job⁴. The Guard will also have experience in a city like Chicago because as part of Phase 3 of BCT (Blue Phase; Weeks 6-9), one of the requirements is Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT). 

Finally, the National Guard has approximately 10,000 soldiers, which is enough people to efficiently operate in a neighborhood like Washington Park (which had 12,709 residents as of 2020). Washington Park is on the city’s South Side, and neighborhoods on the South and West Sides are typically the most dangerous when it comes to gun violence. To further illustrate this point, the Harrison Police District, which includes the Humboldt Park, West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, East Garfield Park, Near West Side, and Austin neighborhoods, all on the West Side, reported the most shootings of any police district during the last five years, with 353 shootings reported in 2022, according to Patrick Andriesen of Illinois Policy. The district also reported 24 mass shootings last year, the most of any police district in the city, as well as 479 victims of gun violence. “For every 1,000 residents, close to seven were [victims] of gun violence”. If the National Guard were to be deployed in Chicago, then they should address the crime in these types of areas first. 

While they do not have powers of arrest, the National Guard can help deter crime on the streets of Chicago because they can be used to supplement the Police Department, they are extensively trained to deal with violence, and they have a lot of people to cover the most violent areas in the city. Based on these reasons, I believe that now is the right time for the National Guard to be deployed to Chicago to solve its gun violence problem.

Additional Resources

Here is a video from WGN News showing why we need to bring the National Guard to Chicago, NOW!

¹-Summarized from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests_in_Chicago.

²-This number comes from the sum of these values: "$210.5 million police overtime bill in 2022" + "...$126.5 million on overtime for members...during the first six months of 2023." 

³-Expand "Do I have to go to Basic Training?" on the linked website.

⁴-Scroll down and expand "Which Advanced Individual Training (AIT) school will I attend? How long will it be?" on the linked website.

^-Both Army and National Guard recruits go through Basic Combat Training (BCT), but the biggest difference is in their service commitment: Army recruits serve full-time, while National Guard recruits serve part-time. Another key distinction is in the structure of their training—Army BCT is divided into four phases (not including Military Operations in Urban Terrain), whereas National Guard BCT is divided into three phases.

*-denotes a source that was not part of the original MLA sources I used for this blog post.