In a State of the City of Chicago speech held at Maggiano’s Restaurant, mayoral hopeful Dr. Willie Wilson on Wednesday (July 13), said he is running as a candidate to make Chicago safe again, and that he is the best person to achieve that goal.
“I am running for Mayor to put a stop to the lawlessness, chaos and violence that is destroying our city,” Dr. Wilson said. “People are afraid, and they are leaving our city and so are businesses.
“Today, Chicago is a broken city…a city that relies on regressive taxes to balance its budget, like red light and speed cameras, like the grocery bags, water bottles, and property taxes and other fines and fees that hurt communities and drive people into bankruptcy and despair. I will end these regressive taxes,” Wilson vowed.
“The number one issue affecting all of us is crime and safety. Public safety is the first duty of government. Too many of our communities are being terrorized by gun violence, carjacking, and retail thefts,” Wilson said referring to the rise in carjackings and gun violence.
Taking a swipe at Mayor Lightfoot, Wilson said, “Chicago has become the crime capital of America. The violence in our city is everywhere.
“People are afraid to ride the CTA. The crime on the CTA has increased 40 percent over last year. Battery is up 60 percent. Theft is up 80 percent. So far this year, 350 people have been murdered, and more than 1,700 have been shot. Last year at least 276 kids 16 and younger were shot in Chicago, and 80 percent of the gun violence victims are African American.
“For too many people—especially too many of our young people—respect for the law and for authority doesn’t exist,” he stated.
To prove his point, he ticked off a series of statistics including saying that “crime is up 34 percent since last year. Theft is up 65 percent. Carjackings are up 40 percent. Burglary is up 31 percent. Robbery is up 21 percent.
“Chicago ended 2021 with more homicides than any other city in the United States. The city had 797 homicides and there were 3,561 people shot. And so far, this year, downtown shootings continue to spike with a 64-percent jump in 2022.”
“Today, our police are handcuffed. When I’m mayor, the handcuffs are coming off the police and they are going to be put on the people who commit the crime. I will restore respect for the law, trust in the police, and we are going to take the fight to the gangbangers. We are going to find them, chase them, arrest them, and disarm them,” vowed Wilson.
“In some neighborhoods, gangbangers, not the police, control the streets. Wild shootouts, carjackings, smash and grab robberies, brazen acts of retail thefts, and an old craze from the 1980s called “wilding” has reared its ugly head again, and places like North Avenue Beach have been taken over by unruly mobs.
“Almost all of the gun violence, the lawlessness, and chaos that has now become a fact of life in every neighborhood in every part of Chicago is gang related. It’s the gangbangers against us. It’s the gangbangers against the police.
“I am here to tell you I will protect all our citizens. The way to make our city safe is to have more police, better trained police, better paid police, and a mayor who has the backs of the police.
“And if the State’s Attorney refuses to prosecute them and releases them from jail, we are going to arrest them again and again and again. The days where the police are on the run will be over. We are going to take the fight to the criminals. We know who they are. We know where they are. They are dangerous. They kill people. And we are going to stop them and bring peace to all our citizens.”
Pointing out some of his proposed policies, Wilson said, “I will implement policies to curb crime: I will work with our communities to solve these crimes. We can do this. We must address this violence with the same sense of urgency, seriousness, and resources as we used during COVID-19.
“This is personal for me. I lost a son to gun violence. I feel the pain of all the parents going through this terror. It’s a war out there. It’s the bad guys against the good guys and the bad guys are winning.
“I will attack poverty with investment in people, education and families.
“I will rebuild the trust with law enforcement and our communities. I will divide the city into four police districts and have four superintendents of police. I will bring back foot patrols and real community policing. I will require watch commanders to have 3-4 diverse police officers per car. I will invest in witness protection programs.
“I will strengthen our CPD Detectives Unit by making it more diverse and stronger. I will create a hotline for all citizens to report crime directly to the Mayor’s office. We will review this daily. I will improve the morale among our police officers.”
Citing the UIC Great Cities Institute, Wilson said, “45.2 percent of Chicago’s 20-24-year-old Black males are out of school and out of work. The rate for white males is 7.2 percent. The rate for Latino males is 18.3 percent.
To address this great inequity, Wilson vowed to bring vocational education (trades) back to schools and require that each student have completed a trade before graduating from high school. He vowed to invest in job training and apprenticeship programs for people coming out of correctional institutions.
“I will continue to listen to all our citizens and incorporate their ideas to strengthen our city. I will bring common sense solutions to the problems of public safety.
“Together there is no problem we cannot solve,” Wilson said.
“It will take all of us working together to make our city safer, and a place where families want to raise their children. Together, we can stop the mass exodus from Chicago by putting policies in place that create opportunity and equity for all. We can make our education system the envy of the world. We will get our financial house in order without taxing our citizens out of the city.
“We can close the life expectancy gap. I reach out my hand and I ask for your help. With our energy, creativity and ingenuity we will make our city the greatest in the world. With God’s help and wisdom, we will get through these tough times together. I am your next mayor of Chicago.
“Let’s get to work,” he said.
