Jeremy Gormer and Annie Sweeney have this article in the Chicago Tribune titled "A tale of 3 cities: LA and NYC outpace Chicago in curbing violence," showing the correlation between immersive policing strategies employed in New York City and Los Angeles -- both past and present -- and the reduction in violence the two cities have experienced and maintained despite national crime spikes. While each city's criminal problems are uniquely their own and different tactics are utilized by their respective police departments to address those problems, one commonality is glaringly obvious among them all: An involved, hands-on police presence in the community equates to less violence. John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor David Kennedy confirms this:
Everything we know about procedural justice and legitimacy says that when communities -- including offenders and potential offenders -- respect the police more and trust the police more, violent crimes go down.
The police are not the problem. Rather, they are the solution to the out-of-control violence currently plaguing many major cities across the country, particularly Chicago, where violence "far outpaces the nation's two larger cities, and has for more than a decade." Ending a bloody summer with a death toll of 325 homicide victims, the Windy City is in desperate need of law enforcement now more than ever. Through mutual understanding and concerted effort between law enforcement and the community, trust can be built, cooperation encouraged and barriers broken down between officer and citizen, as well as officer and criminal, both in Chicago and nationally.
As communities across the U.S. persist in blaming law enforcement as the cause of their problems, they reject the opportunity to improve the safety of their families and strengthen their communities.
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