BRONZEVILLE — A retired Army general who has been credited for restoring calm to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina said Thursday that Chicago needs more police to combat its murder problem.
At a press conference at the Chicago Military Academy, 3519 S. Giles Ave., retired Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore urged investment in "education, technology, after school programs, [and] mental health support for today’s youth."
But, he added, "I am recommending the use of police as much as possible to solve this problem with the assistance of state police and other state agencies and the use of the latest technology."
"We can use the National Guard in places to relieve the police from doing traffic duty. We have to get control of the drugs that is creating this violence,” said Honore.
The military leader was part of a press conference called to bring solutions to the city's murder rate.
"Incidents of violence in Chicago’s urban communities have escalated to such a level that it is necessary to identify a variety of strategies to stem the flow of blood in the streets," said Julieanna Richardson, founder of The HistoryMakers, a Chicago, non-profit organization that records oral histories of black Americans.
Richards said federal intervention was needed "to save our children and communities."
Honore was dubbed the "Category 5 General" for his work in New Orleans in 2005.
A Washington Post profile remarked, "It seemed the city had spiraled out of anyone's control when the 6-foot-2 general with the pencil mustache and caramel skin appeared from obscurity and threw his weight against the mayhem."
He grew up on a Louisiana dairy farm with 11 siblings before joining the Army, where he spent 37 years.
Today, Honore is an author and public speaker who says his mission is to create "a culture of preparedness" for man-made and natural disasters in America.
