CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Superintendent David Brown took part in a discussion about violent crime Saturday at the University of Chicago, along with academics and community leaders, looking for answers following the murder last week of a recent graduate.
The discussion touched on the tangible and the intangible.
"What is it that drives a young person to pick up a gun and shoot indiscrimanately seemingly without any regard for the sanctity of life," Lightfoot questioned.
The murder ratcheted up the pressure on the city to do something more about violence and the mayor notes that the answers are not so simple.
"The cause is complex and multilayered. In the short-term, I think the answer is we are seeing the manifestations of decades of disinvestment of black and brown neighborhoods in our city," she said.
"There's no question about it-exacerbated by a pandemic that effected an entire ecosystem of public safety, which is way more nuanced and multi-faceted than simply the police department."
Brown outlined some of what’s being done on and around the campus to address the issue.
"We added more officers to the area dedicated to this particular areas. We are collaborating more with University of Chicago Police Department," he said.
"We're adding techonology-both pod cameras, video cameras and license plate readers."
Both Brown and the mayor agreed that violent people aren’t being held accountable and that’s got to change.
"I don't think anybody believes that murderers, attempted murderers, rapists, people who are carjacking with guns should be walking the streets and unfortunately that is the sad reality in Cook County," Lightfoot noted.
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