By: Matt Rosenberg
Attacks on Chicago Police reached alarming proportions before and during the July 4th weekend. It was just the continuation of a disturbing trend, as we’ll show you in a moment. The backdrop was already fairly grim. The department has lost 1,725 sworn officers since January of 2019, or 13 percent. Words and actions toward police matter. A city cannot continue to sustain serious challenges to its basic everyday police powers. It’s a recipe for ongoing criminal disorder.
When a political party representing six Chicago aldermen says the department wields “white supremacist” power, it makes a difference. When young men shoot, shoot at, or punch cops, or when they attack police vehicles violently and injure officers in the process, it makes a difference.
Arrest and murder prosecution rates in Chicago are already paltry, and more than 400,000 times last year there were no police available to respond to high-priority 911 calls for service.
If City Hall can’t better manage public safety and attacks on cops, Chicago can expect a more and more demoralized and dwindling Chicago Police force. The city can also expect further declines in arrest rates, prosecutions of major crimes, timely 911 responses, and the city’s economic vibrancy.
Should you suspect that recent attacks on cops in Chicago have been just a one-off July 4th weekend kind of thing, consisting of mostly harmless “blowing off steam,” you’d be wrong. Consider the last few weeks.
On June 5th, Chicago police officer Eric Moreno was shot in Englewood by a suspect during a traffic stop at 69th and Sangamon. He was wounded but later recovering. In video posted by the crime news site CWB Chicago it’s clear to see the shooter emerging quickly after the traffic stop with his gun drawn and shooting right from the get-go.
Four days earlier in West Englewood a Chicago officer in a police car was trying to make a traffic stop and got shot from the subject’s car. In mid-June a Chicago cop making a traffic stop in the city’s Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side encountered a driver who attempted to flee in his own vehicle and struck the officer’s body with his car. The suspect was charged with attempted first-degree murder.
On June 21 in the Old Town neighborhood on the city’s North Side, three officers were injured by a 16-year-old boy who attacked them as they tried to break up a fight. One cop was hit on the back of the head with an object, another suffered lacerations, and the third a swelling of the eye. On the South Side of the city shots were fired at a police officer on bicycle patrol, on June 28th.
A Chicago police officer responding to a call about a domestic dispute on July 1 was shot point blank upon arriving at the apartment, allegedly by an angry boyfriend. It turned out the woman who made this emergency call had also made six previous reports to police about domestic abuse by the alleged cop-shooter. The officer was seriously wounded but was starting to recover. His life was likely saved by a University of Illinois at Chicago officer who had also come to the scene, and transported him to the hospital. The suspect was charged with attempted first-degree murder.
On July 2 on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side, a police officer was injured after a crowd attacked police vehicles. CBS 2 News reported, “The crowd can be seen kicking doors, jumping on the hoods, and even punching the windshields of squad cars. Chicago police tell us one of their officers was driving in the area when someone threw something at the car – shattering the windshield. They called for backup leading to the chaotic scene. That officer had to be treated for minor injuries as the crowd scattered.”
Commenting at Twitter on the Portage Park attack on police, local TV anchor Anita Padilla wrote, “Why is this okay, Chicago? THE LAWLESSNESS IS OUT OF CONTROL for no other reason than they know there will be no consequences for their actions.”
Chicagoan Chris Olenik, who filmed the Portage Park attack, told WGN-TV, “A lot of the criminals are not having to face any of the consequences and I think watching that video shows.” The news report continued, “(Olenik) said she believes the rowdy behavior and hostility toward police is unjustifiable and hopes CPD can get more resources to control these type of situations. ‘Especially seeing what went on last night, there’s no possible way that anybody coming from a law enforcement background could possibly feel like their loved ones are safe when they leave their house to go to their job.’”
On July 3, two Chicago police officers were sprayed with mace after intervening in a mace-spraying incident at a downtown restaurant. One of them was also hit in the head with a bottle of mace.
In the early hours of July 3, state police were attacked by street mobs. An Illinois State Patrol trooper had stopped to investigate a street being closed-off by private vehicles amassed for a hot-rodding “sideshow” off Division Street near Interstate 90/94 on the city’s North Side. His vehicle was confronted by an advancing group of 100 to 150, some of whom heaved rocks and bricks, jumped on the hood and broke the windshield.
Harrowing video shows the street mob approaching the patrol car and wreaking havoc. The dispatch call audio is included in the video and the patrol officer’s distress is evident. As fireworks go off repeatedly nearby, he says, “Chicago, got a mob. They just jumped on my car. Holy s***.” Then suddenly the video shows his windshield cracked all over. He says, “Oh man, they popped my window. They just broke my window,” he repeats, clearly distressed. He adds, “there’s probably 150 of them coming at me.”
Early on July 4th a crowd that had gathered to block traffic at Columbus and Wacker in downtown Chicago hurled fireworks at Chicago Police cars and officers suffered minor injuries. Three men from suburban Calumet City were later charged.
Along with another attack on a police vehicle on the city’s Southwest Side, and counting the attack on state police, there were at least four times over the July 4th weekend that police cars were under siege in Chicago. In the Southwest Side incident, fireworks shattered the CPD car’s windshield and injured an officer who was hospitalized and later released.
At the same time Chicago Police and State Police were under attack, so were Chicagoans across the city. At least 10 people were killed in Chicago over the long July 4th weekend and another 62 wounded.
Through Week 27 of 2022 ending July 3, there had been 30 percent more shooting incidents versus the same period in the last pre-Covid, pre-George Floyd year of 2019. Year-to-date 2022 murders in Chicago versus the same stretch of 2019 were up 28 percent, thefts 28 percent, motor vehicle thefts 46 percent, and robberies 8 percent.
The number of sworn officers working for the Chicago Police Department has continued to drop, particularly since rioting, looting and attacks on police in the summer of 2020 following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police in late May of that year.
According to a city data dashboard on police staffing, CPD had 13,353 sworn officers in January of 2019 and 11,628 as of July 2022. That’s a decline of almost 13 percent from the start of 2019 to mid-2022.
Unless city leaders can get a handle on the growing and blatant disrespect and physical aggression toward Chicago Police, things will keep getting worse. Without competent leadership which deals firmly with attacks on police – and growing constraints on their effectiveness – we can expect their departures and many major crimes to continue to climb.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- New Census data: income advantages of marriage greatest for blacks
- Gov. Pritzker is still proclaiming Illinois a Covid “disaster area.” How does he do it with a straight face?
- Four things you need to know about mass shootings and the new gun control landscape
- New State of Illinois Financial Statements Show $4.5 Billion Loss For FY 2021, Repudiating ‘Balanced Budget’ Claims
- In a city this violent, Mayor Lightfoot’s outburst against Justice Thomas constitutes a grave dereliction of duty
- Electricity cost rising 50% in much of Illinois and risk of brownouts looms
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Matt – very informative overview and summary of these recent events. We appreciate your efforts in bringing these issues to the public’s attention and inviting constructive dialogue on going forward solutions to remedy this problem. We look forward to your next article.
The attacks on police have/has been a long-standing problem in Chicago and many other cities in the United States. Who is spurring this? There are plenty of reasons. Black citizens have long held a mistrust of the police in general. Many have been abused by rogue cops, been framed by the police and have been beaten to confess to criminal acts they did not commit. Chicago lived through the hellish years of former (and now deceased) CPD Detective (and his henchmen) Richard Burge. Numerous young black men were convicted, sentenced to either long prison sentences, life sentences or to death… Read more »
It has become increasingly clear that Chicago needs a new mayor. Lightfoot has failed miserably and her relationship with the Chicago PD rank and file is at a new low. She has overworked them, and abused them and they are leaving in droves with little or new police officers joining. Then there is Kim Foxx, who keeps releasing violent felons on no cash bail or failing to prosecute them so they will go out and kill, maim, rob and commit arson again as they have “no consequences for their actions” as Anita Padilla accurately tweeted. The only person capable of… Read more »
What a sad state of affairs. I have two cops on my block plus two retired officers. They are shocked by the way the Democrat Party has scapegoated them and left innocent citizens unprotected against evil predators. But despite all that, the city’s voters as whole have no desire to change. If they did, Foxx would not have been handily reelected. All we can do is move away.
The last sentence says it: “We can expect [police] departures and many major crimes to continue to climb.” Yes we can. And we can thank the “presstocticy.” The print and broadcast media have been beating the drum of hatred for the police since Obama. Why do you media execs allow this? Is it because, “If it bleeds it leads” is better when it’s the blood of police? I don’t read or watch your nonsense now. Your advertisers messages are not seen. Another serious question: We all know that black-on-black crime is rampant in Chicago. Why does a group that is… Read more »
Unfortunately, I have to agree with your conclusion that things will keep getting worse. I hope we’re wrong about that. Maybe some surprising election results could help.
It has become increasingly clear that Chicago needs a new mayor. Lightfoot has failed miserably and her relationship with the Chicago PD rank and file is at a new low. She has overworked them, and abused them and they are leaving in droves with little or new police officers joining. Then there is Kim Foxx, who keeps releasing violent felons on no cash bail or failing to prosecute them so they will go out and kill, maim, rob and commit arson again as they have “no consequences for their actions” as Anita Padilla accurately tweeted. The only person capable of… Read more »
From the job description of The National Guard: “The National Guard is unique among the U.S. armed forces in that it can perform state as well as federal functions. The Guard is generally called up to respond to state-level emergencies, such as natural disasters. But, unlike most of the other military forces, it can also serve a domestic law enforcement role.” Biden would never, ever do this because the optics would look way bad. If Trump couldn’t make it happen in 2020, how could we fathom in our wildest dreams troops be brought in now under this administration? But it needs to happen.… Read more »
You forgot to include the Governor that has rubber stamped all anti-Police legislation and seems to be focused on the Covid State Of Emergency he has created in his mind to try to obtain more Federal Money. He too is part of the circus along with the four other clowns you mentioned and the useless Alderman that go along with everything the Mayor says and wants.
Democrat office holders must hate their constituents. They ignore experts’ recommendations of evidence based practices and improvements within PDs, they created and implemented legislation that obstructs quality policework, burdens PDs with unfunded mandates, and then let criminals go free. Many Republicans were SILENT when HB3653 was introduced and SILENT when there were riots. Is it any wonder why we see a loss of incentive to become/remain a police officer, and criminals are motivated? It’s a recipe for violence, chaos and loss of safety. It’s seeping into the suburbs and reaching rural areas. I pray that in this coming November election,… Read more »
Maslow’s heirarchy of needs reminds me of Mr.Spock’s quote “The needs of the many,outweigh the needs of the few, or the one?” In today’s world quite the opposite is true in most cases where the needs of the one outweigh everything else. It’s a Where’s mine society? The so called needs of the few (when compared to the percentage of total citizens of the state) outweigh the ability for the many to pay for and within the few “The One” is trying to accumulate as much as possible.
There are those who believe that communism and Socialism are the worst possible circumstances. However, that’s not true. Anarchy, mob violence that goes basically unchecked, the breakdown of all law and order and the lack of any semblance of society are far worse than Socialism and communism.
What’s next?? I don’t know, but I fear for Chicago, for if this anarchy continues unabated, sooner or later we will see the city go up in flames.
Chicago is in state of anarchy
When there are no consequences for lawlessness, it will only continue
Why is it that progressive cities are the focus of all these problems
As I’ve mentioned before the criminals are the good guys and as some alderman have state the cops are the bad guys, until they need a cop
Chicago and a lot of major cities are upside down
“until they need a cop”
Do they really need cops? Or do they just call up their gang banging constituents for a little extrajudicial aka street justice? Why call the police when you can call the head of the local gang, otherwise known as a warlord, to solve your problems for you?
These violent, horrific and brazen acts against the Chicago Police department has gotten more press and attention from outlets outside Chicago than local affiliates. Citizens should come to the realization that law and order are lost in the city of Chicago. When will they realize that if the criminals are attacking law enforcement like this…. what chance do they have??
They have no chance unfortunately. And so, that’s why citizens feel the need to arm themselves.
And you’re right about news outlets outside Chicago carrying these stories more frequently than the Chicago outlets. News such as flash mobs or attacks on police cars are often not fully reported or reported (I am a frequent radio listener) at odd times of the day—e.g. 11 p.m a day or two after the incident.
Stop the madness. We all know the City leadership is a disgrace and so is the police department leadership under Brown and especially Carter.The Upper Brass doesn’t care. They Kiss Lightfoots ass. I don’t know how they sleep at night but I bet pretty well.
Remove Lightfoot. Refund the police. Restore our city to it’s old glory. We are done with these Soros funded clowns!
I lived in Chicago for over 12 years, absolutely loved what was once a beautiful city. When my family moved to the burbs, I would walk 5 miles to the train station and spend the day in Chicago, whenever I could. When my sons were old enough, I took them to every museum, orchestra hall, the united center, a couple of concerts and restaurants where they could enjoy food they would be hard pressed to find in the burbs. I never gave safety a thought. Those were the Daly, Sr. years. Today, Chicago is no longer a safe place to… Read more »
I cannot even imagine who would want to be a cop…oh, I guess I can imagine wanting to be a cop, but not in Chicago, New York, LA, Detroit, etc. where the elected officials (Democrats in every case, appear to care much more for the people who endanger the public, than it does for the people who put their lives at risk to protect the public. I favor a zero tolerance policy for disrespecting, threatening, injuring or killing a police officer. Automatic jail sentences, without plea opportunity. Our cities are held captive by domestic terrorists — gangs who pray on… Read more »
Who would have thought, that when the Mob ran this city was something we’d all wish for again?
During the 50’s up through the 90’s, pull some shit, any shit … and your body would have washed up on the Indiana shoreline. No dancin around the issue, not subject to interpretation or the court system …. just DEAD ! It wasn’t too many years ago that I employed a good lookin fella as a manager. A handsome Black man by the name of Jay Paul. I always knew that he played fast and loose with my little restaurant and the cash register. More than once, I found his backpack chock full of product that was not his. One… Read more »
The Chicago Way !
Oh, how we long for the good old days where justice meted out by that famous uneducated Judge Roy Bean. Now, there was a guy who didn’t waffle. He made a quick decision and got on to his shot and a beer with dispatch. Cards anyone?
Yeah, Chicago should just get rid of what they refer to as all of those nasty, biased “white supremacist” cops and give their jobs to BLM members so they can protect the city. Would like to see how that works out.
With the dumb and/or evil politicians chicagoans keep electing, I don’t have any hope for improvement. But hey, I live in NW Indiana. As long as Chicago keep getting worse, more will escape to this place and my home value will rise further. Sad reality.
This is horrifying. Bring back ‘Shoot to Kill’ and let the cards fall where the may !
It is shocking how quickly the infection has grown and spread. We all remember how parts of Chicago have always been dangerous; it was easy to avoid them. But now the north side, the northwest side, the west northwest side… Neighborhoods that were perfectly safe a decade ago now have mobs attacking police cars. It’s unthinkable. Courageous policeman risk their very lives to capture criminals whom Kim Foxx and our corrupt judges set free the following day. No wonder police are quitting in droves. No wonder good new recruits are nowhere to be found. Who can blame them? 100 years… Read more »
When we are governed by ideology, when there are no consequences, when everything is racist does anyone wonder why? Why are we where we are now? My answer, cowards, spineless, stupid people. Who by the way I would like to tell take your idiotic ideas and put them where the sun doesn’t shine. It’s not working! People are fed up. People in Chicago pay some of the highest taxes in the US. And what do they get? The numbers don’t lie. Let’s take away any and all protection from our Chicago politicians. What’s good for us is good for them.… Read more »
If the police have not figured out by now that Chicago and its liberal government do not really care about them at all, then Something is wrong. The police need to abandon it. Get out of Chicago 😒 . Let it implode 😡 . Chicago needs to learn a bitter and hard lesson. I sound harsh, but sometimes you must take a wide swath with a fire hose and start over. Continuing to vote for the same liberals destroying our once great Chicago should come with consequences.
Unfortunately, this will continue until there is a dramatic change in attitude not only from the leadership of Chicago but also the average citizen. The average citizen needs to call their alderman and raise hell. The high taxes paid in Chicago are suppose to be paying in part for police protection. Chicago is certainly not getting it’s money’s worth. Why would anyone in there right mind choose a career Law enforcement in Chicago when they are not respected and their hands are tied. Kimm Foxx won’t prosecute offender that are arrested and unless that changes you will see a continued… Read more »
Excellent analysis and sober input from one of Chicago’s only true journalist/columnists.
Matt, your topics always provide timely information on the pulse of a blood-letting city.
National bookers take notice.
Thank you for illuminating the problems of our streets without the gaslight we see from the city’s two dailies and tvs.
The other day we got off the Eisenhower expressway at wrong exit and ended up driving through the heart of the westside Austin neighborhood. My girlfriend was driving safely as cars whizzed around her speeding and running stop signs and red lights. I asked her to not stop to closely to the car in front of her when stopping at same, and later explained to her that the wild west driving in this neighborhood is because the police isn’t going to risk the likely confrontation for a traffic stop and everyone who lives here knows it. The west Englewood shooting… Read more »
LOL, I thought a world with no police is like the suburbs! Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Defund the Police ‘Looks like a Suburb’ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), when asked what an America with “defunded police” looks like, stated that it “looks like a suburb.” The New York lawmaker answered a few questions on Thursday, posting them to her Instagram story. One of the questions was, “What does an America with defunded police look like to you?” “The good news is that it actually doesn’t take a ton of imagination,” Ocasio-Cortez began in her typed response, seemingly blaming the struggles of urban areas,… Read more »
I think maybe as she does that its better in the longer view of such things its better to put funding into more and better positive influences on people’s lives than trying to stop or at least deter the ever-present oppressive factors in their lives. Who wants to live in a “police state,” after all? That’s just inviting oppressive forces into all our lives.
Unfortunately most of the funding that’s supposed to bring about positive influences goes to politically connected organizations who’s primary purpose is to sustain their organization. If they would fund more organizations like Project H.O.O.D. then maybe we’ll start to see a difference. That may be wishful thinking though, I would guess the success of Project H.O.O.D is related to it being run by Pastor Brooks.
How many more decades constitute the “longer view”? We have spent trillions of $$ on the Great Society ideas. Somehow actual good results never happen, but we are assured that at some point they will arrive if only we keep spending.
So, how long is the ‘long view?’ Years, decades, centuries, perhaps ? Will any of us still be alive when we reach this policeless Utopia ?? For heaven’s sake, get real ! People are dying on the streets of Chicago every day! Yes, I know there are bad cops, but I, for one, don’t care to live without them just yet.
The Nazi-like police state brings the appearance of a cooperative population because it instills fear. But, surely none of us advocate that degree of political control, so we have to deal with misbehavior of all of all kinds and degrees. A better society requires a smarter way to uplift its citizenry, and the positive systems and incentives to do it may well take multiple decades. The bigger problem is that the political divisions in this country have trumped any attempt to reach the numerous compromises needed to get there and enough so that we are nearly rudderless as a nation… Read more »
I agree that we’re rudderless. We became so about the time we gave up on the Constitution, the ten commandments and natural law.
Of course none of us advocate a Nazi police state. Is that what you think you grew up in here in the US? We were perfectly capable of dealing with criminals without turning into a police state. So the choice is Nazis or letting criminals run the streets???
Please do tell me your sense of the likelihood or at least the strategies for reaching a compromise on those two more extreme possibilities. I don’t advocate Nazi-like crack-downs on society and was giving that only as an extremist’s version for controlling society rather than mine.
Why do people act as if we have no idea what to do? See late 80’s early 90’s NYC for a template.
Yeah, that’s a great case to mention. Do you think any IL politician of consequence would suggest investigating that as a similar case?
James – don’t deflect and be intellectually honest. Chicago’s police mat at times be incompetent, may experience instances of corruption, certainly are overworked and stressed, but they are not close to a Nazi style police state. Neither was New York’s police apparatus anywhere near a Nazi style police state at its height of stop and frisk. New York changed for the better, and dramatically. I realize that schools of education don’t rigorously teach history any longer, but any student of WWII can describe the depth to which the Nazis penetrated society, whether it was the SS, control over all means… Read more »
Did I say anything at all about Chicago or even New York police? No! You are arguing against your own false take on my comment. “I don’t advocate Nazi-like crack-downs on society and was giving that only as an extremist’s version for controlling society rather than mine.”
Yes but there are no Nazi like police conditions in the country. Yet you raised the possibility. Clearly not persuasive.
Years back the good old fashioned wood shampoo cured many a miscreant of their evil ways to never sin again. Those days are over and the social justice warriors would hang any officer so inclined to teach a lesson of life. Now it’s just a free-for-all with no consequences. Get used to it.