- State representative Ken Dunkin says Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police chief Garry McCarthy have shown “abysmal ineptitude” in dealing with violence.
State rep Ken Dunkin says he’s had enough and so have his constituents. “After three years now, this mayor and this so-called chief of police can’t figure out what the hell to do,” he says. “The least the mayor could do is terminate Garry McCarthy immediately and get a superintendent who knows this city and is moving toward some strategies that will save it.”
“The gun violence in this city is the result of lax gun laws, period,” McCarthy told WGN-TV. “It couldn’t be more clear what we need to do.” But, he added, “at this point the black caucus has blocked it based upon the question of mass incarceration, which is obviously an issue.”
Dunkin says he agrees with Emanuel to a point. “I’m a huge critic of the population of the black community and the Latino community enabling these criminals to exist. We all need personal responsibility. But if the people in our city had the faith and confidence that we would enjoy the same levels of police protection everywhere as they do in the Lincoln Park community, you’d see far more cooperation in reducing crime. At this point the faith and confidence in McCarthy is nonexistent.”
The mayor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Adam Collins, a spokesman for McCarthy, said in an e-mailed statement that despite progress, “we all know there’s much more work to do and no one will rest until everyone enjoys the same sense of safety.”
In the time since, its chief sponsor, southwest-side Rep Michael Zalewski, has introduced legislation that would ease penalties for marijuana possession. He stresses that he doesn’t want to lock more people up—just the right people. “Let’s have a full conversation about criminal justice reform in Illinois,” Zalewski says. “We have so many people sitting in prison for things they don’t need to be incarcerated for, like low-level amounts of drugs, or driving on a revoked license.”
