Thursday, November 7, 2013

Gangs and Politicians in Chicago: An Unholy Alliance

Violent gang crime in Chicago has been a constant feature of news reports for years.  Most of it is gun-related crime; homicides caused by people shooting other people.  We hear of school kids being killed, toddlers and families in parks being killed, people walking on the street being killed, gang bangers being killed by other gang bangers.  The number of homicides is especially high in Chicago's gang-ridden south side.

In 2012, three hundred ten American service members were killed in Afghanistan, while there were five hundred thirty-two homicides in Chicago.

The cause of most of the violent crime is drug dealers, or more specifically, organized gangs of drug dealers fighting over turf, territory, and money.  A lot of money, millions and millions of dollars.  Yet Chicago has a large and powerful police department with more than 12,000 sworn officers.  How can such a high level of violet crime persist in a City with a huge law enforcement presence?

Much, much more after the jump.  You'll want to read it all.
Gang crime in Chicago is protected by politicians.  To think otherwise is to be naïve in the workings of big city politics, especially Chicago politics.  Gang crime in Chicago exists because politicians want it to exist, and protect it in order to serve their own interests.

Chicago Magazine investigated the corrupt relationship between street gangs and local politicians.
In some parts of Chicago, violent street gangs and pols quietly trade money and favors for mutual gain. The thugs flourish, the elected officials thrive—and you lose.
 It's worse than that.  Politicians "audition" for gang support at pre-arranged meetings during election season.
The sessions were organized much like corporate-style job fairs. The gang representatives conducted hour-long interviews, one after the other, talking to as many as five candidates in a single evening. Like supplicants, the politicians came into the room alone and sat before the gang representatives, who sat behind a long table.
The former chieftains, several of them ex-convicts, represented some of the most notorious gangs on the South and West Sides, including the Vice Lords, Gangster Disciples, Black Disciples, Cobras, Black P Stones, and Black Gangsters. Before the election, the gangs agreed to set aside decades-old rivalries and bloody vendettas to operate as a unified political force, which they called Black United Voters of Chicago.
The paradox is that Chicago’s struggle to combat street gangs is being undermined by its own elected officials. And the alliances between lawmakers and lawbreakers raise a troubling question: Who actually rules the neighborhoods — Chicago's public servants or the gangs?   The correct answer is the one you already know.
Officers working in the 23rd District say [Alderwoman] Shiller and her chief of staff, Denice Davis, frequently came into the station after certain Uptown residents were arrested to try to defuse things. Police say Davis’s interference on behalf of gangbangers was part of the alderman’s political organization [and] had a chilling effect on their policing efforts. What was the point of making an arrest when it brought trouble from the alderman’s office? “Certain officers would get the message: ‘Maybe I shouldn’t make this stop’ or ‘Maybe I shouldn’t investigate this,’” says Joe Cox, a veteran officer from the district who retired in 2010.
There's more.  Any Alderman is powerful in Chicago, and has influence over police activities.
In return, the Vice Lord recalls, the alderman would sometimes give the gang a heads-up about what was discussed at CAPS meetings, where police and residents talked about neighborhood crime and other issues. The alderman, he says, would tell them which corners or gang members were receiving police attention. That way, the gang would “know how to move around” to avoid police, he explains. (Many aldermen wield considerable influence over the police commanders in their districts. In some respects, the commanders unofficially report to the aldermen.) He says that the alderman would also let them know about jobs at particular construction sites in the ward.
Meanwhile, the city’s inspector general can’t—by design of the City Council—investigate council members. (In May 2010, the council, under pressure to curb its corruptible ways, created its own inspector general. The job went unfilled for more than 18 months, until last November, when the council picked a New York lawyer for the part-time position, which has a minuscule budget and no staff and which critics have decried as window-dressing.) 
Political power trumps justice.  Those being murdered have little protection, not even the right to possess their own guns for their own protection.  Human lives have become secondary to the agendas of corrupt Chicago pols.  Neighborhoods are not getting better; they are becoming worse.

Why are we not surprised?

Here is a link to the article.  Read the whole thing, especially the parts about community organizing and how local corruption climbs the ladder to state and federal elected officials.  

And then consider how things are done in the White House without regard to open bidding, to having a DOJ that equally enforces the law, to questionable fund raising, to rule by Executive Orders without regard to constitutional lawmaking.  DC is Big Chicago.

47 comments:

KCFleming said...

Holy shit.

chickelit said...

Top to bottom Chicago political corruption is probably as old as the city itself. Jack Muller, a retired Chicago cop and detective, wrote a tell-all account of what it was like there from the near inside ca. late 1940s to the 1970s. He had no reason to lie. He took a bullet to the head for his troubles but lived to write a book from retirement in Wisconsin. Sadly, his book, "I, Pig Or How The World's Famous Cop, Me, Is Fighting City Hall" is out of print. His accounts of the political conventions in those years is particularly eyeopening. I started to blog a little of it here and again here.

The names and ethnicities of the criminal organization change, but the effect is always the same.

What's different today is that we now have graduate of the Chicago Way school at the highest, most protected level of power.

Shouting Thomas said...

Why should I feel any sympathy?

The black and hispanic community in Chicago wants welfare and graft. They yak about wanting police protection, but go Jesse Jackson civil rights extortion when it is actually provided, and their guys have to go to jail. It's all a blame whitey game.

So, they've made a bargain with the devil. Let them live with it.

I'm from Chicago. I know which streets to walk on, and which neighborhoods I can frequent. Chicagoans have chosen this shit.

It's still a great city, at least the parts of it that are accessible and the suburbs. And it's mostly blacks and hispanics killing each other. Why should I give a fuck?

Rabel said...

"In 2012, four hundred five American service members were killed in Pakistan..."

You might want to correct that MH.

Shouting Thomas said...

By the way, the "cooperation" between black gangsters and cops goes way back in Chicago. It was firmly in place when I was a kid.

Liberal theoreticians thought it was great. Half the black guys were going away to jail anyway, so why discriminate and waste all that human capital?

Leaders of the Nation of Islam and the black gangs were thought to be the perfect "community leaders" to distribute money for social welfare programs and to oversee jobs programs.

Michael Haz said...

Thanks, Rabel.

Trooper York said...

To be fair this is not new and not a development of the current group of racial or ethnic minorities.

You can back to the days of Diamond Jim Colosimio, Johnny Torrio and AL Capone and see the same exact thing.

What is a musing is that people look at Barack Obama as some clean white knight when he is just a gloried Aton Cermak.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

Unholy, perhaps. Still one has to admire their ambition and solid work ethic.

Trooper York said...

Money talks and bullshit walks.

There is a nifty little series about Chicago starring that whore from Flashdance called "The Chicago Code" that kind of shows exactly what you are talking about.

Of course the criminals in it are Irish because it is against the law in Hollywood to show who is actually committing the crimes these days. Still you can get the idea.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

"That imbecile is going to be the next President of the United States." -- Nucky Thompson

Trooper York said...

Of course Shouting is right. Our goal should only be containment.

Back in the day the cops made sure the violence stayed in the Levee district in Chicago and the Five Points area in NYC.

That's what they used to say about the Italians. "Let them kill each other...who cares."

Michael Haz said...

Remember when you see Mayor Rahm and the local Aldercriminals pose for holy pictures after the next shooting of some innocent person that they really don't mean to do anything about reducing gang crime.

A good US Attorney would, but hey, Holder doesn't give a shit about that stuff.

bagoh20 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
bagoh20 said...

I too have a hard time with pitying the victims there. They always outnumber the people walking all over them, so all they have to do is vote differently. The problem is they vote by race and tribe, and promises. You reap what you sow.

Which brings up a question. If "fundamentally transforming America" is a winning idea, why don't we get some. The left has been pretty much getting it's way for a couple generations now, and it's all going to hell, so how about some real "change we can believe in" for once.

bagoh20 said...

Isn't it surprising how strongly we believe in our values, our iconic good people, our heros. Our culture is full of what is right versus wrong, and it's pretty widely agreed on, but still so many people are willing to be part of and defend the bad guys, the crooks, and the evil. I guess people are pretty good and rationalizing this stuff, and the tribal instinct is just overpowering. That's probably very important in evolutionary terms, where goodness may be more of a luxury, hard earned and rare.

Shouting Thomas said...

My grandpa on my mom's side was a bootlegger who bought his hootch from the Capone gang, and sold it down the Indiana/Illinois state line.

Grandpa told me the facts of life, particularly about black gangs, when I was a kid. He knew them well from street fights against them. I got all fuckhead liberal, soft headed and holier than thou when I went away to college, just like every other moron.

Grandpa, forgive me! You were right! I was a dumb shit kid! I hope that they're keeping you in cases of beer and the occasional shot of whiskey up there in heaven. Keep your whistle wet!

Trooper York said...

The problem is that evil can be a lot of fun.

Drugs can be fun.

Sex can be lots of fun.

Drinking to excess can be great.

So it will always have it's fans and it's customers.

It's the same as it ever was. The War on Drugs is just like Prohibition. Repeal the drugs laws and the violence will end. If you are stupid enough to get caught up in drugs well that is tough shit just as if you become an alkie.

Stop legislating morality and let people be free to kill themselves with dope if that is what they want.

At this point what difference does it make.

Shouting Thomas said...

The War on Drugs is just like Prohibition.

Except that the law enforcement, treatment, social services, make-work jobs, prisons, unions, etc. are making a fortune on the War on Drugs far beyond the wildest dreams of Eliot Ness. The War on Drugs is one of our biggest, fastest growing businesses. It may be our only growth industry.

Everybody and their daddy in every level of government is buying its own SWAT team, armored vehicles and heavy artillery. They all get to play RoboCop!

ndspinelli said...

This is a racist post.

Shouting Thomas said...

This is a racist post.

Aren't they all? Everything is racism. Racism is everything.

Michael Haz said...

Nick, did you know that in Brookfield there is a residential street called Capone Court? It's in a newer upscale subdivision.

Michael Haz said...

Why should I feel any sympathy?

The article doesn't ask for the reader's sympathy. It does describe a situation in which people of little means are left without recourse to make there situation better.

Shouting Thomas said...

It does describe a situation in which people of little means are left without recourse to make there situation better.

Well, they could start by supporting the cops, even if it means sending their own kids to jail, instead of turning to race extortion artists like Jesse Jackson.

The cops are doing what those "people of little means" are asking them to do, which is to look the other way when it really counts.

bagoh20 said...

It's one man - one vote, even for little people. The little people can have whatever they choose, they are the majority.

Michael Haz said...

The cops are looking away when ward heelers ask their commanders to send that message. The proles have no way to oust the corruptocrats.

And yes, citizens fear retribution so they don't always help the police.

Michael Haz said...

Anyhow, there is no reason to believe that politicians at any level really want to end crime in the south and west sides of Chicago.

Known Unknown said...

Troop-

I agree. If you really wanted to curb gun violence in this country, you'd legalize narcotics.

Of course you'd still have the occasional school shooting in your lily-white liberal enclaves, but I'd trade those for decades of less dead inner-city black kids.

Michael Haz said...

Legalization of narcotics won't end drug crime. First, there'd be a black market. Second, how else will addicts get money to buy legal drugs other than by committing crimes?

Shouting Thomas said...

Legalization of narcotics won't end drug crime.

Not entirely. But, it will end 80% to 90% of it.

And people won't be going to jail for smoking pot. And the prisons won't be full of people jailed for smoking and selling pot. And a whole bunch of asshole who make a living fighting the War on Drugs will have to look for real jobs.

That's good enough.

Trooper York said...

How to stop people stealing to buy drugs?

Give it to them for free. If they are high they might forget to vote for Democrats.

deborah said...

I think the broader problem is the coarsening of America. Gansta rap, sexual rap, rock and roll sexuality, reality shows that encourage cut-throat tactics, programs that idealize badness (Breaking Bad), the consumer culture (marbled bathrooms the size of bedrooms). I think it's called progress.

It would be nice to contain the inner-city culture, but it's spreading, little by little.

The Dude said...

I KNOW! Next thing you know we will elect a gangsta from Chicago as our president.

If you like the gang you are in, you can keep your gang...

Trooper York said...

I don't think it is fair to call it inner city culture. Any disadvantaged group felt the same way about gaudy ?signs of their success.

What we need to do is let them enjoy that in their little enclaves and keep the rest of America safe behind our gated communities. Isn't that what we are doing?

JAL said...

4:58 DST (east coast) -- Pakistan still not fixed, Haz.

JAL said...

As for the gangs and the deaths -- any gun control folks reading this might want to keep those numbers in mind when they use stats on dead "children."

Some little ones were killed by the stray shots of the gang wars. Collateral damage.

The rest of the "children" were killed in fratricidal battles abetted by the machine.

Skews the stats, it does.

deborah said...

Inner-city was just short hand, but yes, I see the future as a kind of middle ages, where people with money will have the advantage of separating themselves from the rabble. But then again, if these parents won't be able to keep their kids out of the malls, it will be for naught.

Trooper York said...

Winter is coming.

chickelit said...

Deborah said...Inner-city was just short hand, but yes, I see the future as a kind of middle ages, where people with money will have the advantage of separating themselves from the rabble.

A centralized, concentrated population would be easier to self defend. This doesn't square with our wealthy exurban populace.

Methadras said...

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

rcocean said...

Once we legalize drugs, the gangs will go away. Just like the mafia did when we got rid of prohibition in 1933.

BTW, we had legalized narcotics before 1910 or so. You could buy cocaine or heroin at your local druggist. Things didn't work out. That's why they were made illegal.

And there are lots of places where you can deal drugs and not get killed. I can name any number of countries around the world that have illegal black markets in narcotics, yet very few people get killed. Its only in the certain parts of the USA that it causes a bloodbath.

Revenant said...

In much of the country the local police are little more than another gang in their own right. Why not make it official?

Revenant said...

Once we legalize drugs, the gangs will go away. Just like the mafia did when we got rid of prohibition in 1933.

We didn't get rid of prohibition in 1933. We got rid of alcohol prohibition in 1933. We kept the prohibitions on cocaine, heroin, marijuana, prostitution, gambling and high-interest loans.

Still, the mafia's power DID take a big hit from the loss of their most profitable commodity.

BTW, we had legalized narcotics before 1910 or so. You could buy cocaine or heroin at your local druggist. Things didn't work out. That's why they were made illegal.

Spoken like a true progressive! Woodrow Wilson would be proud to count you as an ally. :)

rcocean said...

Yes, the Mafia and Gangs will be destroyed if we legalized narcotics, the violence will stop and they'll all go into charity work.

As stated, it didn't happen when we legalized booze. The Mafia was stronger than ever in the 50s/60s.

Crooks & Organized crime don't exist to sell drugs, they exist to make large amounts of money though illegal means. They will continue regardless.

Revenant said...

Yes, the Mafia and Gangs will be destroyed if we legalized narcotics, the violence will stop and they'll all go into charity work.

Of course not. They'll totally keep dealing drugs and shooting up neighborhoods even after the profit disappears. Criminals aren't motivated by greed, after all -- they're just in it for the "lulz".

Revenant said...

Really, though, the inevitable drop in violent crime that would follow the end of drug prohibition (just as it followed the end of alcohol prohibition) is just a fringe benefit.

The real benefit lies in us no longer wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on law enforcement schemes that have never produced and will never produce any sustained reduction in drug use by Americans. The fact that the war on drugs has an unbroken record of failure spanning over a century is sufficient reason to end it, even if gangs still (for some mysterious reason) kept shooting each other just as often.

deborah said...

I don't know, chick. I think as time goes on, they'll become more protected...private police forces, armored cars, etc. As the future demands it. Or maybe we'll just ooze into globby distractedness. Computers and legalized drugs for the masses.

chickelit said...

I don't know, chick. I think as time goes on, they'll become more protected...private police forces, armored cars, etc. As the future demands it.

I'm just trying to reconcile past periods in history when people armed for survival. You mentioned Middle Ages when people built walled communities. I'm assuming that you realize that a "gated community" needs an upgrade to become a "walled community." Then again, modern weaponry works wonders.