One Illinois lawmaker wants a drastic change to occur in the Chicago streets. State Rep. Monique Davis of the city’s south side wants state troopers and the National Guard to work with Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and local police to secure residents from ongoing violence.
Davis, a 76-year-old Democrat who represents Chicago in the Illinois House of Representatives, held a press conference on Tuesday asking Gov. Pat Quinn to bring in outside help and new options to thwart solve the problems the city’s faced over the past several years.
“’I am requesting with this press conference that Gov. Patrick Quinn order the Illinois National Guard (and) the Illinois State Police (to) come to Chicago and work with our mayor Ron (sic) Emanuel to provide safety for the children, especially,’ she said at a news conference in Springfield.
Other state lawmakers accompanied Davis to recognize the severity of the problem, and the extent to which it carries beyond Chicago’s troubled neighborhoods to the entire city and other parts of the state, but not necessarily to concur with her solution.
The city’s current tactics have yielded results as murders are “down 28 percent, from 260 to 188, and shooting incidents fell 24 percent, from 1,117 to 849, in the first half of the year.” At the same time, the police department has overspent their budget for the entire year by $10.5 million.
Davis plea called on the outside help “to protect our children so they can go to the park and swim and play and have a childhood.” 74 people were shot and 12 killed over the 4th of July holiday weekend. Reportedly, more than 100 people have been shot over the first 10 days of the month while 20 were shot on a single day in June.
Photo: Getty