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City Needs to Hire 2,500 More Cops To Deal With Violence, Ald. Burnett Says

By Stephanie Lulay | October 7, 2015 8:47am
 Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (left) says he ultimately stands with the Black Caucus in calling for Police Supt. Gary McCarthy to be fired.
Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (left) says he ultimately stands with the Black Caucus in calling for Police Supt. Gary McCarthy to be fired.
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Bill Motchan; DNAinfo/Josh McGhee

NEAR WEST SIDE — He wasn't with the group of 18 aldermen who called for the firing of Police Supt. Garry McCarthy this week. But on Tuesday, an influential Near West Side alderman said he stands with the Black Caucus' call for McCarthy's ouster.

As McCarthy was called on carpet at City Hall Tuesday at a budget hearing, Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) told DNAinfo Chicago that he stands with the Black Caucus' demand that McCarthy be fired.

"I don't know if I agree with it 100 percent, but I do stand with the Caucus," said Burnett, a key ally of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "I'm going to support the [Black] Caucus just like [McCarthy] would support his brothers and sisters in blue coats."

Burnett said the call is "an expression of our frustration." At the hearing, Burnett urged McCarthy to "do what you have to do to get the riffraff off the street."

"Every day, there are people getting shot a few blocks from our houses," the longtime alderman said. "We're crying out for help."

Stephanie Lulay discusses police staffing issues in Chicago:

At the hearing, McCarthy said the Chicago Police Department's staffing levels are adequate, telling aldermen that Chicago has more cops per capita than any major U.S. city.

"It's cheaper to pay the overtime than to hire a police officer," he said.

According to the department, CPD has hired 346 new officers this year, with two classes coming in the next two months to address 201 vacancies. McCarthy said the new hires will keep the department at a "full" complement of officers.

City Budget Director Alexandra Holt put the force at 9,786 beat cops at an earlier hearing.

Burnett disagreed with McCarthy's assessment, telling DNAinfo Chicago that the city needs to hire 2,500 more cops — adding 50 cops in each of the city's 50 wards.

"We need them," Burnett said. "We have to get rid of this culture of crime, this culture of violence, this culture of disrespect."

Burnett said frustration in the diverse neighborhoods he represents — which includes parts of the West Loop, the United Center area, Greektown, Garfield Park, the Near North Side, Old Town, West Humboldt Park, West Town, the Medical District and Goose Island — is not going away. He is often confronted with that frustration at family gatherings, the alderman said.

Recently, a shooting occurred near Burnett's elderly mother's home in the ward.

"Someone got shot right in front of one of my nephews. Right in front of his face. It could have been him. That scares me," he said. When he sent his own college-aged son back to school in New York this fall, Burnett said he was relieved his son made it through another summer without being "caught in the crossfire" on the Near West Side.

"For most of the minority aldermen, violence [and] crime not only happens where we live, it happens where our family lives," Burnett said. "It affects us personally."

If there's "riff raff" consistently hanging out on the corners near Western Avenue and Jackson Boulevard or near Touhy-Herbert Park on the Near West Side "then no, I don't think police are doing enough. I think they can do better," Burnett said.

"We have to show [the gangs] you can't stand around in Chicago. We won't tolerate it," Burnett said.

"I think because there's so much violence and shootings, we prioritize that. But the truth is quality of life issues [that police respond to], these things are just as important to people — the things that contribute to you being able to walk down the street in your own neighborhood and feel safe," he said.

McCarthy blamed a proliferation of guns for the 370 murders and 1,870 shootings so far this year, up from 306 and 1,581 at this time last year. According to department data, 78 percent of murder victims this year were African-American, while 16 percent were Hispanic.

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