Chicago has seen a 139% jump in murders in 2020, according to the city’s police department. Violence continues every weekend, prompting Mayor Lori Lightfoot to say, “it feels like we’re losing the streets.”
However, Lightfoot’s own actions play a large role in contributing to the current situation. She has consistently blamed police for violence and threatened to take away the very power that police need to restore law and order to the city’s neighborhoods.
Nationwide calls to “defund the police” and radically change law enforcement in the wake of George Floyd’s death give Lightfoot just the ammunition she needs to push for her own short-sighted version of reform.
“All the craziness died down, and now the anti-police rhetoric needs to go up. She’s pushing her anti-police agenda. She wants to break the union. So, she throws gasoline on a fire,” Chicago FOP President John Catanzara Jr. told the Chicago Tribune.
National Police Support Fund is doing its part to protect the city’s police and draw attention to Lightfoot’s anti-police words and actions through a new video campaign that highlights the recent violence in Chicago and the vital role the Mayor plays in whether this trend will continue.
“The writing’s been on the wall for Lightfoot’s entire career, and now the violence has boiled over once again. She deflects her duties under the guise of ‘public health’ and criminals run the streets unchecked,” said NPSF executive director Simon Lewis. “Lightfoot’s lack of leadership is on full display.”
Most recently, Lightfoot has called for all of the city’s police officers to be licensed, saying it’s “way past time” for the change.
However, with police morale already at record lows and COVID-19 still a major problem in the city, a change like this is the last thing the city’s police force needs to deal with right now.
“I’m not telling them not to do police work,” Catanzara told the Chicago Sun-Times. “But I hope they just slow down and decide ‘Is this necessary?’ before they do it.”
The National Police Support Fund video series is part of a larger campaign to engage the public on police-related issues and understand the role politicians play in law enforcement. The first video was released earlier this year, and things in Chicago have only gotten worse since then.
“It seems hard to believe, but it’s true. Lightfoot’s actions are putting our officers and our citizens in harm’s way, and we can’t stand by quietly,” Lewis said.
The campaign’s goal is to reach Chicago’s voters and help them see the damage she is causing to the city and their own safety by continually threatening and undermining the police. Armed with this information, citizens can hold Lightfoot and other city leaders accountable for their actions and lack of leadership.
For more information on the campaign, visit the National Police Support Fund YouTube channel.
