CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - At a public forum in Pilsen, the presumed next superintendent of the Chicago Police Department Larry Snelling sat in the hot seat Thursday night at a public forum in Pilsen.
The hearing before the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability was the first of several planned in the process to confirm Snelling as the head of the CPD.
For more than an hour, Snelling fielded questions about a wide range of issues at the National Museum of Mexican Art, including asylum-seeking migrants sleeping in police stations.
Snelling said a lot of officers are saddened by what they see.
"It's heartbreaking to see a child in a district, on the floor, nowhere to shower, having to be brought food, nowhere to play and just running around that district. These officers have stepped up where they came to that, and I can tell you right now, I've gone to visit some of these districts and it's a heartbreaking thing to see this, and I ask this question: Where is everybody else?" Snelling said.
Snelling said he spoke with Mayor Brandon Johnson, who is working to move these individuals off the floors.
He also was asked about youth involvement in violent crimes.
"Until we step up, and we start looking out for our children in these communities, they grow up to become the next statistic. We can no longer ignore our children, because when you have a 14, 15, 16-year-old shooter, you can't blame the 14, 15, 16-year-old shooter. We have to start looking back to see where this child was failed," Snelling said.
Snelling's confirmation has been delayed.
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