SUPERINTENDENT WEIS NEEDS HELP; OBAMA & DALEY NEED TO BE CONCERNED WITH KEEPING OUR KIDS ALIVE TO SEE 2016 OLYMPICS

Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis (AP)It is time to support Chicago's fairly new superintendent, Jody Weis, who comes with 23 years of FBI experience. It's time to give him the help that he needs. Even the most fabulous, wonderful, brilliant and powerful person cannot win a war by himself. Weis has the ability to carry out his job but he still needs strategy; he needs support; he needs infrastructure; he needs soldiers.

We are in a war on our streets. The other day, Derrion Albert was savagely beaten to death in broad daylight, just 10 miles south of President Obama's Chicago residence. Last year, Blair Holt was killed on a school bus as he tried to break up a fight. These boys are just a couple of the 100+ student who have died in the past year on Chicago's streets. The number of our children killed at home are WAR NUMBERS!

Superintendent Weis needs help - he cannot fight this war alone. While Daley and Obama are flitting around Europe and schmoozing with the IOC in an attempt to get the Olympics to Chicago, Superintendent Weis is in the streets of Chicago, assigning detectives to solve the brutal murder of Mr. Albert. (Don't forget, within hours, CPD had several suspects in custody, even though they did not receive one tip -- that's right, not even ONE tip!)

The innocent are getting killed. You must understand it's not just the drug dealers and gang bangers. Both Derrion Albert and Blair Holt were honor roll students. I'll never forget the funeral I attended at Rainbow Push a couple of years ago for a young, female college student who was shot to death in her car as she drove to get some food with her friends. It was a case of mistaken identity - the shooters got the "wrong" person. I just sat in the chair at Push and stared at the made-up face, reconstructed with cheap wax, of a young girl who had so much of a future ahead of her. I remember thinking, "What's wrong here? She didn't have a chance."

So, thank you, General McChrystal for your report on what we can do to "win" the war in Afghanistan. But we need the same kind of detailed report on how we are going to win the war on the streets of America.

We cannot and shall not bash Superintendent Weis. We need him to do his job and he needs the help of our leaders to come up with a plan on how we are going to save our kids. I've been to those "community" meetings held by the "community organizers" of our city. The people mean well. They have been crying out for help and change for years. Problem is, nobody is really listening.

Sure, we can have the "accountability" argument - until parents teach their kids to be accountable, we will continue to have violence. And sure, we can have the "blame the police" argument - since the police were a block away from the scene of the latest violent crime, it's CPD's fault. Because you know what? Even if CPD was there to save Derrion, there still is going to be another shooting or another beating the next day and the next day and the next day. So, those arguments only take us so far. The problem is so pervasive and so widespread that we need strategy, we need planning, we need infrastructure, and we need solidified leadership. Until then, the innocent will continue to die. And, your good kid could be next...

After Obama and Daley come back with their little "Chicago 2016" pins, they need to start planning on how to keep our kids alive so that they can actually see the Olympics in their hometown.

 PS: Please, let's not make this about race. Let's make this about saving our kids.

 www.xpunged.com and www.tamaraholder.com

REPORT: ANNUAL COST OF GUN VIOLENCE IN CHICAGO = $2.5 BILLION ANNUALLY

March 3, 2009: "Gun Violence Among School-Age Youth in Chicago" a report released by the University of Chicago Crime Lab says the annual cost of gun violence in the City of Chicago costs $2.5 billion dollars annually. Yes, that's BILLION. Article here. Other findings of the report are:
--Most of residents at the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center suffer from at least one psychiatric disorder.
--The average juvenile in custody scored lower on a vocabulary test than 95 percent of the general youth population.
--More than a third of homicide victims had alcohol in their system, while only 3 percent showed traces of "hard drugs" like heroin or cocaine in their blood.
--Four-fifths of Chicago homicide victims in 2008 died from gunshot wounds.

This new statistic bolsters my previously-held position that we have a war in our streets-at-home. So long as we continue to fight wars abroad and seek to provide "economic recovery" to the working class at home, we will continue to leave out those who have become an economic burden to our society.

$2.5 billion dollars is a staggering number. But that number is just a portion of the total cost that "gun violence" has on our community. Each indigent person must be prosecuted by the County State's Attorney and defended by the County Public Defender. Each indigent person must sit in out jails as they await trial. Each victim that survives becomes a life-long burden on society if there is serious physical disabiity and required medical attention. Each victim that does not survive must be properly buried and many times the family cannot afford the expenses.

THESE STATS ARE NOT JUST CHICAGO'S PROBLEM. THEY ARE THE NATION'S PROBLEM. 2.2 million people in our county are currently in prison or jail. Statutory minimums have been created for sentencing; the "3-strikes and you're out" laws set many up for failure. We slap first-time offenders on the wrist but severely punish on the 3rd offense. Why not punish the first time around?

Here's a comparison: Mexico's annual federal budget is 1 billion. That means the City of Chicago's gun-violence costs are 1 1/2 times greater than the ENTIRE country of Mexico's budget!  Nationally, we spend approximately $100 billion dollars annually on gun violence.

I cannot understand why society as a whole continues to ignore this immense problem.

According to the Brady Campaign:
* In 2005, approximately 8 children under the age of 19 were killed per day. 
*,694 people in the United States died from firearm-related deaths – 12,352 were murdered; 17,002 killed themselves; 789 were accidents; 330 died by police intervention, and in 221, the intent was unknown. ⁶ In comparison, 33,651 Americans were killed in the Korean War and 58,193 Americans were killed in the Vietnam War.

Regardless of your position on gun laws and rights, we have a serious problem with gun violence. Too many lives are lost and too much money is being spent.  Something must change.

www.xpunged.com and www.tamaraholder.com

SOARING UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: EXPECT TO SEE RISE IN CRIME

November marked the greatest number of jobs lost in 34 years; unemployment rose to 6.7% as nearly 533,000 people lost their jobs. Article here.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Many people will fall into depression and seek the "numbing" effect of illegal drugs to ease their emotional pain. And where there is demand, there is supply. Drug dealers can expect to be busier than ever; however, their competition for control of the streets will also increase. Many people who once had a job will resort to pushing dope to pay the bills. I suspect our crime rate will rise and tension on the streets will create more violence.

We will see dealers (especially those without the experience) get arrested at alarming rates. In effect, this will cause an increase in the jail population, especially because many won't be able to post bond to get out of jail. Bond money can be used to pay the lawyer. Since many won't be able to post bond, the public defender's office can expect to see an influx of cases while the criminal defense attorney can expect to see an decrease in work, just like the rest of the country.

Judges will be forced to toss many cases in an effort to keep the jails from over-crowding. These people (dealers or buyers) will leave the courthouse with a criminal record, even if the case was dismissed. Now, this arrest record is visible to background check companies. This arrest record will prevent the prospective employee from getting a job. And so the cycle begins...See my blog about an arrest record and its relationship to the umemployment rate here: http://tamaraholder.squarespace.com/blog/2008/9/6/having-an-arrest-on-your-record-can-leave-you-jobless.html

www.xpunged.com and www.tamaraholder.com