CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- As Chicago prepares to bury Police Officer Ella French, killed during a traffic stop, former Education Secretary Arne Duncan is asking us to look at policing and violence in new ways.
Arne Duncan now heads the anti-violence group, Chicago CRED, and he said this city has more police officers than other big cities with less crime and we need to rethink things. After the murder of Officer Ella French, Arne Duncan asks whether armed police should be enforcing traffic laws, putting the officers and motorists at risk.
"We ask way too much of police. Do they need to do every traffic stop? Do they need to every time someone's tail light doesn't work or the license plates or whatever; just their presence escalates everything and puts officers at risk," he said.
On the other hand: what Duncan said police need to do is solve more shootings, so gangs don’t feel there are no consequences for murders.
And, he said, young men need to see there’s another way of life for them, something his group tries to show them.
"Just seeing every day the transformation of men, who unfortunately many of whom have done their fair share of shootings and too many have been shot, to see what they're doing is just extraordinary," Duncan said.
Chicago CRED holds a graduation for some of its participants on Thursday.
Duncan said there should be more efforts like his team's: giving jobs, counseling, and services to young men involved in violence.
"It'll break your heart about how much they are all looking for the same thing," he said.
Right now, he said, nobody wins.
"The police aren't winning, the guys in the street aren't winning, our communities aren't winning, and our city is not winning," Duncan said.
Building trust, he said, could change that.
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