Chicago is already known to be one of the most dangerous cities in the country, but cops are continually getting their hands cuffed when they attempt to keep the peace.
The latest restriction requires law enforcement professionals to justify every action. Of course, they must answer to a review board when shots are fired or when they shoot an individual, but now they must even report simply pointing a gun in someone’s direction. This arduous requirement is a portion of the consent decree that was negotiated in federal court after the Illinois state attorney general sued the police department over the need for civil rights reform. Although Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has since left office, the sweeping reforms continue to trouble the 13,000-person police force.
Implementation of Rule Slightly Delayed
While the rule requiring police officers to report pointing guns at individuals hasn’t been stopped completely, it has been delayed for the time being. The Office of Emergency Management, the police department and the appointed independent monitoring team all agree that they need additional time to review the impact of this particular part of the negotiated consent decree. There was a great deal of public pushback in support of the police department as a part of this measure, which is likely why the delay has occurred.
The new active date has not yet been released, but the joint press release between the current attorney general and the police department noted that it would be “soon”.
Protecting the Streets — and Our Police Force
There is a lot of conversation lately around the challenges that individuals are facing across the country as they attempt to exercise their Second Amendment rights. In some cases, police officers are even being asked to determine whether or not individuals are allowed to purchase or carry a firearm. This is a completely different — but equally dangerous — situation, where law enforcement professionals are being severely hampered from protecting the people in their city.
When police officers have to stop and think about whether they’ll be reprimanded for pointing a gun before they even unholster their weapon, there’s a much higher likelihood that these same individuals could be injured or even killed due to their hesitation. This unnecessarily reduces the effectiveness of the entire police force in Chicago, a city that is beleaguered by dangerous crime and has been for decades.
With all of the new requirements and sanctions that will be placed on Illinois law enforcement professionals, it leaves you to wonder whether the murder rate will continue to drop as it has for the last several years. It wouldn’t be surprising if this rate begins to slowly climb again as criminals realize that policemen and women are being handcuffed from effectively doing their jobs within the state.
