Brandon Johnson doesn’t have a real plan to curb Memorial Day weekend violence
Jack Elbaum
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Holiday weekends are always some of the most violent in Chicago. Last year, on Fourth of July weekend, 62 people were wounded and 10 were killed in gun violence. On Memorial Day weekend, nine were killed and 42 more were injured. Every year, everyone knows exactly what is going to happen, which should allow for proper preparation and prevention — yet nothing is done, and it is just as violent anyway.
Maybe this year will be different.
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Earlier today, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced on Twitter that he had an event scheduled for this afternoon to discuss his “safety plan” for this Memorial Day weekend. With this announcement, an optimist could have hoped that he was going to take decisive action to prevent senseless violence in the city before it started. Unfortunately, that optimist would have been completely wrong.
Just moments ago, surrounded by law enforcement personnel and other “community leaders,” Johnson revealed his “plan” to keep people safe this weekend.
He repeatedly emphasized that safety was his top priority, yet barely discussed what exactly he was going to do to keep violence to a minimum. He vaguely discussed that the Office of Emergency Management & Communications will “monitor citywide events & weather conditions,” and he was sure to mention all the fun events happening. But real action on preventing violence this weekend? None.
The only step that will likely have concrete benefits related to crime is his mention in a tweet that Chicago police “will increase its presence this weekend.” Yet, even that left much to be desired. It was not discussed in his actual announcement, only a tweet, and he was far less specific about what police will actually be doing than his predecessor was last year — when the weekend was a failure with dozens of people shot and nine killed. Johnson does not get significant credit for doing less in terms of real safety than even the last failed Chicago mayor.
What I would have hoped to see is a real break with past approaches, as it is clear that those approaches are not doing enough. At the same time, I am open to being, and hope to be, wrong about this. Seeing local headlines about the people killed each of these weekends, with almost nobody on the national stage showing concern about the problem, is a truly terrible thing.
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But, unfortunately, there are no real indications that Johnson is doing anything different than his predecessors. The state is offering some help to the city, but it doesn’t seem like their proposals will do much. They are sending a mere 30 “trained peacekeepers” — whatever that means — and “outreach partners that will provide ‘assistance in de-escalation, conflict resolution and crisis support.’”
There comes a point where the declining condition of a city like Chicago starts to be perceived as permanent. I do not necessarily believe that it is, but it will take policy far bolder than Johnson’s to make the change that everybody knows is necessary.
Jack Elbaum is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.