Walter: Time To Be Upfront About Mob Violence
On Wednesday in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's top cop from New Jersey, Garry McCarthy, will officially become the new superintendent of police.
And he is smack in the middle of a crisis as deep as any in Chicago since the Days of Rage demonstrations by the Weather Underground more than four decades ago.
McCarthy has mob violence to stop – roving bands of young thugs and thieves – and he knows, or had better know, that he cannot stop them by himself. McCarthy and his Mister Mayor, and the big shots of big business downtown must level with us about it, spread the word about it, warn the politicians and the merchants, and the bankers, the neighbors and the parents, to face up to it.
Stop telling us you'll fix it. Start telling us about teenagers in the ghettos without summer jobs, and the heat and the crowds on beaches.
The cops on the streets are telling us it's worse than City Hall says, and we've been reporting that. So now it's your turn Mr. Superintendent of Police and Mr. Mayor of Chicago.
The way to start to stop the violence is to be upfront about it – now, Mr. Superintendent and Mr. Mayor.
Right now.
