As DNC Nears, Do Chicago Cops Have Any Leverage to Do Their Jobs?

By Michael Ledwith | June 9, 2024

Walk around Chicago, things are out of control.

Shoplifting gangs. Robbery crews. Wilding almost every weekend. A young father murdered outside his home on the Northwest Side. That couple attacked by gangs and beaten in Streeterville. She lost the baby she was carrying.

No one uses the El unless they must. Streets and highways are shut down by demonstrators with regularity. Arrests are made, but those arrested are immediately released.

Criminals on foot cannot be chased by cops. Carjackers cannot be pursued by cops. Felons with guns can walk around with impunity. Recently, gun and drug evidence found during a traffic stop cannot be used to charge criminals.

The Governor, the Cook County President, the State’s Attorney, prosecutors, all with media support and even encouragement, accept lawlessness and anarchy in Purge Chicago.

But you know who doesn’t accept lawlessness? You know who rejects this new Chicago?

Chicago’s cops.

Rank and file Chicago cops. Black, white, or brown Chicago cops. Male or female Chicago cops. Young and old Chicago cops.

Cops are told not to do their jobs. Cops have been stripped of their traditional powers. Cops are routinely accused of being thugs, murderers, racists and being incompetent.

Like all law-abiding Chicagoans, like all Americans, they’ve had enough.

But no one in state/county/city leadership seems to care as politicians pursue a radical restructuring of America.

Things could be different. For the first time since the ‘defund the police’, ‘social justice’ madness started, cops have leverage if they want to take advantage of it.

The Democratic National Convention, to be held in Chicago, is only 90 days away. Everyone remembers the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Mayhem and anarchy played out live on national TV. The Mayor of Chicago, the original Mayor Daley yelling anti-Semitic slurs at a Jewish Senator from the convention floor.

Cops beating college kids…live on TV. Hotel windows along Michigan Avenue smashed live on TV. Crowds chanting ‘The Whole World is Watching’ as the whole world watched…live on TV.

The plan:

The Chicago Police Union should hold a press conference next week and demand that the City immediately restore law enforcement’s ability to enforce the law. Allowing foot chases. Allowing car chases. Being able to use illegal guns and narcotics found during traffic stops as hard evidence of criminality. Let cops carry and use night sticks when, in their judgement, they are needed. Stun guns, and pepper spray, too.

Reinstate effective rules of engagement with violent criminals on the streets of Chicago. Demand that Mayor Johnson  commit in writing to allow cops to do their jobs ensuring public safety,and the Cook County President and to charge, prosecute, and hold without bail, dangerous criminals.

Commitments needed to ensure a safe Democratic National Convention in 2024 and not a repeat of 1968.

Starting June 10. D-Day. The liberation of Chicago from crime and criminals. If not, cops, will limit their activities during the convention to current  Preckwinkle/Foxx/Pritzker Purge Rules, Directive, .

To the letter.

The two can play Progressive games but if cops are allowed to be cops, by August Chicago will be a different city. Neighborhoods transformed from shooting galleries, street racing performance sites, and carjacking centers to what Chicago once was.

The Magnificent Mile, magnificent again. You might ask: why would Johnson/Pritzker/Preckwinkle/Foxx listen?

Because the DNC/Biden Administration certainly will be.

The leverage:

The 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago could easily become the 1968 Democratic National Convention on steroids.

Stop Oil activists gluing their hands to Nancy Pelosi. Vandals throwing Malort on Nighthawks at the Art Institute.

All of Grant Park a barricaded No Go Zone inhabited by anarchists, River to the Sea terrorists,

Abortion activists, and 30,000 illegals from who knows where.

Lake Shore Drive shut down for weeks all the mayham and anarchy blogged,   TikTok-ed, and Instagrammed live. Streaming videos in their millions. 24/7 coverage by MSNBC/CNN/CSPAN/ABC/NBC/CBS.

Arson. High end stores ransacked. The El sabotaged. Bricks through windows. Shot detectors overheating and melting down.

The Convention disrupted. Suspended. Cancelled. The Democrat Party and its slate of candidates up and down the ballot on display in real time.

And Joe?

Where will Joe be? What will he say? Will Joe march with the protestors? Will he sleep in the encampment?

Who will enforce the law? The National Guard? A bad look, eh?

The Army?

After a  worse look.

Police Union leadership in  this  union city, in a union state, put together a ten-point plan to allow Chicago’s Finest to save Chicago.

Present it at a press conference on June 10th. Hand out copies to Democrat politicians in the wards. In the state. In Congress. Leverage the Democratic National Convention to bring back law and order and create a new Chicago.

It’s President Biden’s only chance.

 

-30-

Frequent contributor Michael Ledwith is a former bag boy at Winn-Dixie, who worked on the Apollo Program one summer in college. A former U.S. Army officer, he ran with the bulls in Pamplona and saw Baryshnikov dance ’Giselle’ at the Auditorium Theater.  Surfer. Rock and roll radio in Chicago. Shareholder, Christopher’s American Grill, London. Father. Movie lover—favorite dialogue: “I say he never loved the emperor.”

Comments 49

  1. The fish rots from the head down. A heart transplant does nothing for a brain dead patient. Johnston, Foxx, et al, will do nothing for the police or support the police against the leftists. To do so would cause their support among the leftists and radicals to collapse and threaten their hold on power. They and money bags Pritzker are caught in a trap of their own making. There is now no escape from the consequences of their own actions. The Democratic Convention of 2024 will make 1968 look like a Sunday School Picnic. Biden will not even show. Dr. Jill will keep him hidden for her sake and power. The only real question is: Who will Johnson, Foxx, et al, find to blame? It sure the Hell won’t be themselves. Trump, maybe?

  2. If they agreed, who would believe them? Who would risk their job, pensions, and safety for pledge that could evaporate in September? Who wants to be suspended, sued and/or doxed when the DNC is done? The disrupters appear to have a bottomless pool of cash and plenty of time and political support as well.

    1. Not to mention the real chance of ending up like Derek Chauvin and colleagues . Nope , checking my watch , thumbs hooked in my tac belt and looking the other way. Let ‘er burn

    2. I don’t know. Can the plan actually be put in place in such a short period of time? Could anything albeit a rushed compromise actually work? Or will be cited as a failure and take the blame? Can the police actually place their heart in it? Ot would they feel that they’re being used.

      As a resident of the SF Bay Area and formally of San Francisco, change here only occurred when things got SO bad that those who vote and haven’t payed attention are slapped across the face with a harsh reality of measures that ‘sounded good’ but never worked and worse yet failed miserably.

      There’s a strong argument of leaving things the way they are. Everyone across the country will be forced to observe and realize that leftist fantasies/cons not only don’t work but they destroy. In SF school board members were recalled, the Soros supported DA was recalled, a few restrictive police, enforcement and criminal policies were changed for the better. This happened only when things got so bad that voters realized it was leftist pipedreams at the root of the problems.

      I believe that showcasing Chicago as a precurser to where they live voters will sober up and not fall for the same failed experiments in their neighborhood, city, state and all across the country.

  3. Michael, everything you say is correct except…

    … the cops need to turn their backs and let it happen…

    Why ? Because people need to see what this group of morons has created, allowed and encouraged. This group of politicians need to be put in their place and embarrassed. Joe won’t show. Him and Kamala are going to get sacked. The borders are their fault. Crime in the cities are the Preckwinkles, Pritzkers and Lightfoot/Johnsons of the world. This is on them and they need to be shown up…embarrassed. I hope the United Center is stormed.

    The empty Police car you used for your picture is a good symbol – no law and order, the Democrat Platform – and needs to be displayed front and center. The cops are helpless. Time for them to throw their arms up, call blue flu turn their backs on these people and let it happen. Let’s not make it nice for a week and then have the hell return when all the a*holes leave. Chicagoans can hunker down, take shelter for a week or two. Why does anyone want to be out here anyway ?

    1. Agreed. But do you seriously think that with all these morons have done, they can be embarrassed? They are way beyond embarrassment. They have already proven that.

      1. John, agreed. But it would show things for what they really are and not some dolled up flower garden for a week they would want you to believe.

  4. I’ve bought a new recliner and popcorn machine, taken that week off work and am ready to enjoy watching the mostly peaceful protest from the comfort of my home.

  5. Get the popcorn ready. 1968 will look like a kindergarten party compared to what will happen at the DNC convention this year. The police have their hands tied with a huge lack of support. I’m so saddened by the decline of a once great city.

  6. Fly over country will definitely be fly into country for the media vultures eagerly looking for a carcass to pick over. Chicago and Milwaukee may offer many tasty treats for them. But, will any of them dare to ask, compare and contrast, with the Dems Convention held at the United Center in the nineties. There was nothing to see or report, simply because the woke idiocracy hadn’t swept in, yet. The most exciting event was a false fire alarm that was resolved in minutes. Media stars ran around trying to make a story out that disturbance, but there was nothing worth the expense of prime air time. That was the Chicago everyone remembered who was privileged to be there. I was a proud police officer to be a part of it.

  7. Democrats need to be forced to sit on the blister they have earned. Just like red state governors flying the consequences of open borders into blue state hellhole cities, comeuppance is instructive. Lastly, having offered to deliver a better outcome will make them scapegoats for the outcome they didn’t cause, when the disaster arrives.

  8. The DNC and the Cook County Dems will never allow the police to do their jobs no matter the cost. Their “Democracy” rolls because of the constraints shackling law enforcement universal.
    Watch “Democracy” roll over what is left of Chicago. Blow town and stay away.

  9. Michael,
    A good article and recap of past and now present problems with this city.
    However, I say “Let it burn!”

    It just might rise above the ashes, I say might!

  10. I will steer clear of the city during the DNC. As stated above this time will make 68 look like a garden party with finger sammichs and sparkling beverages. The cops should just turn their back but then they’d become the convenient scapegoat. All in the Dem party will bemoan the situation and hope to find a way (perhaps paid protestors to imitate Trump supporters??) to blame Donald. Glad I moved 500 miles south but still have a condo here off the mag mile so still have to care about what happens. God help us all.

  11. Mr. Ledwith has totally missed the mark. With Biden a shoo-in for the nomination, this convention will be like watching paint dry. As for the Chicago police, he needs to remember that 1968 was a police riot, frothing at the mouth, out of control uniformed bullies authorized by Sir Richard to swing their billy clubs at people sitting in the grass chanting–not a criminal element gone bad. It got the ‘pig’ reputation for the cops into full televised view. Horrible. Shameful. Daley’s long gone. It won’t happen this time around.

    1. Do you really believe that the demonstrators this year will be like the stoned hippies of 1968? If you do, you are deluding yourself. The demonstrations of 2024 will be nothing like the demonstrations of 1968. They will more like the George Floyd rioters and their demonstrations. Good luck with your peaceful demonstrations dream. You are right – it won’t happen this time around and nobody will be able to blame the police.

  12. Mike,
    Never gonna happen. Anarchy and rampant crime are the order of the day here. Soros backed socialists in the DA’s and SA’s offices won’t prosecute crimes, and mayor Pannix won’t lift a finger to challenge the CTU, and insists criminals are simply “justice challenged!” (Forget the fact that the CTU “educated” students can’t even read!) What a crock. The whole world will again watch how far Chicago has descended into a real S–thole city, and of course, BLM will be on the front lines demanding rioters are “peaceful demonstrators!” This whole country needs a dose of tough love, as my late Mom bestowed upon me. Instead of platitudes, America needs the truth be told about the evils of socialism and marxism – neither of which have worked successfully anywhere on earth. These “isms” only serve to enslave the populace, and enrich the oligarchs and despots who manage the nation’s wealth. Wake up America….

  13. Mr. Ledwith, in a rational non-political world, that would be reasonable and balanced. You wrote a good column, but this is the Idioticy of Chicago.
    For sure all the political elite will make certain that the police will be around the DNC. They’ll even pull police from other districts to ensure the Debbie Wasserman Shultzs of the world won’t be inconvenienced by crime. I would not be surprised if the Academie had a contract in place last year to provide security backup for the DNC. For the rest of Chicago be damned.
    Shades of San Francisco….
    As for the Jacobin news media, a blind eye will be turned to the crimes and they will report on only the cherry-picked stories of the DNC. I can see a full hour-long interview with the Obamas at their house on Greenwood Ave. Maybe she’ll give cooking tips. Tony Resko who??
    I don’t see anything good for Chicago with the DNC. I really wish I could.

  14. Great column Mike! Don’t count on the mayor, and his gang of idiots doing anything different. That’s why I am taking my kids and grand kids and gettin’ the feck out of town that week!

  15. Well the whole show will be a 24 hour , 5 day ad for President Trump. It will be preceded by the same in Milwaulkee ” This is Joe Biden’s Amerika”. Soros DA’s , Turn ’em Loose judges , tongue tied moronic ‘leaders’ and handcuffed cops . Smashed windows , cars on fire , street fights with 2×4’s and bricks. All in leftist, D run cities…..

    I love the smell of tear gas in the evening . It smells like …. anarchy.

  16. ‘The Whole World is Watching’
    ‘The Whole World is Watching’
    ‘The Whole World is Watching’
    ‘The Whole World is Watching’
    ‘The Whole World is Watching’
    ‘The Whole World is Watching’
    ‘The Whole World is Watching’
    ‘The Whole World is Watching’

    1. Waiting for the announcement of the band Chicago Reunion Concert, along with the release of their newest album “Chicago MMCCCLVIII”…

  17. Mr. Ledwith, I do believe you are wrong in this article. IF it were improved for the 1 lousy week of the Democratic Convention, (which is against everything this Presidency stands for) then who would ever believe what is REALLY going on in Chicago the other 51 weeks of the year???? I hope it makes the 1968 Convention look like a garden party! That way the rest of the world will truly understand what a mess this entire country has become — not to mention what has happened to Chicago. And I was there in 1968 — living and working right in the heart of the
    city. I was born and raised in that city; I was married and had both of my children in that city. I loved that city. But I have seen the changes in my hometown and will never again set foot in that city during my lifetime.

  18. The week before the convention, the city may look like a gulf town readying for a hurricane. Plywood windows, runs on the grocery stores and residents, that can, headed for their second homes in Michigan and Wisconsin. Office staffs working remotely and retail employees missing out on a week’s pay. Longer term, those that were on the fence about packing their bags for good, do that. Why’d they pick Chicago? Democrats always win Illinois anyway. The last Republican to win the state was Reagan. That couldn’t happen again. Oh, wait a minute . .. .

  19. I didn’t see any mention of the Chicago gangs in these replies. The gangs are in the Pols pockets. Just reach in a pull out a gang or two to take control of the “peaceful demonstrators”.
    Cops are out of it. They are free to follow Johnson’s orders.
    I asked my wife this morning, since we stayed home from ’68, we could make this one. She’s the smart one and said no.
    The world is laughing at us now. Let’s give them a Convention party no one will forget. It’s all about having a better one than the last.
    Give the world something to see. Hiz Honna Daley could issue his famous order from the grave, “Shoot to ….” and the gangs will!

    1. I agree. You got to be creative just like they were in SF when – miracles of miracles – that marxist hellhole cleaned up the streets, made all the homeless disappear virtually overnight in anticipation of Xi Jinpang’s visit. Amazing. It was like a new city … the enchanting Bagdad by the Bay of old. In a like manner as you suggest, we here in Chicago should utilize our treasured resources to perform an equal miracle. And as you mention that treasured resource is our wonderful gangbangers – which I am sure for a modest fee will be happy to issue a street mandate i.e. “the word on the street”. That gentle mandate: something to the effect “if you so much as get out of hand – like show up to protest – we’ll shoot you.” Seriously. Real simple. The pols will be happy. The citizens will be happy. And the police will be very happy indeed. It will be another SF miracle – only our Chicago version.

  20. Great ideas, but it’ll never happen. Law and order restored? At the risk of the chumbalones asking “why wasn’t this done before? Is it only important for the DNC and not the actual taxpaying citizens ?”
    Nope. Just a dream. The chumbalones have had numerous opportunities to fix that, but always chose the wrong option.
    F*#% Chicago. Let it burn.

  21. Chicago media spent the week touting CPD’s state of the art crowd control training for the upcoming DNC. I immediately went to YouTube and pulled the clip from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail “. “..run away, run away!!”. Hilarious. The poor kids of the Chicago Police Department will be used as human shields for the Domcratic Party. They are only there for one purpose. To absorb the abuse for the rotten bastard Democrats. Surrogate Abuse puppets. They will be lied to from their bosses and the mayor that the city has their backs. Yes they have your back. Now bend over so I can put this in there. National media is looking to motivate blacks to get back to the plantation so they can be herded to the ballot box. If they get any video they can amplify of CPD “mistreatment” of “mostly peaceful” rioters of color they will put that officers head on a spike and proudly parade it. If there are any officers with any time on the job left maybe they can talk some sense to the kids so scumbag Kim Foxx doesn’t get her trophy head on her way out the door. Every Copper in the city needs to use the Rahm Emanuel method Stay FETAL. Yes, its Rahm approved. Stay FETAL. That should be the official CPD mantra. I’m sure anyone on that department who needs medical attention will save the surgery for September. Brave King Arthur said it best…” run away..run away!!!”.

  22. I don’t know Mr. Ledwith. I suspect that if there is mayhem, CNN and all the rest will just describe the videos as “fiery but peaceful protests.”

    There is precedent for that …..

  23. democrats love chaos….that is the only answer possible for their casual attitude toward law and order.
    A population in chaos is much more likely to manageable than a population who lives in safety and success.
    As long as chaos can be manufactured with catch-and-release and, if caught for something serious like murder, with no prosecution, sheittheads can be back on the street causing danger to resident taxpayers in quick order.

  24. Great column and great plan but 1 element is missing in that sadly because of $$$$ promises the Cops union leadership FOP keeps funding the campaign funds of Defund and Destroy Police and Policing progressives like State Rep Justin Slaughter. Jellybelly’s court jester!
    Bad long term policy plays for short term gains

  25. As others have alluded to here, the real victims will be the Chicago Police Department. Hearing the news already telling us that the police and the security people ‘coming from Washington’ are currently NEGOTIATING with those who plan to protest, I can only shake my head in astonishment if any of these “security” people think that the protestors will move as one entity, bound by some sort of agreement that “someone” thinks is a good idea. They’ve already talked about how much Russian influence will be active in the streets. If the Police Superintendent and others are willing to publicly acknowledge that, this many days ahead of Action Central, one can only imagine what’s being planned for the city and what will “just happen”…..and who will be to blame? Why, the Police Department, of course!!! NO MATTER WHAT THEY DO, it will be interpreted as having caused the problem. If they have too heavy a presence, it will be Racism for all the world to see; if they don’t have enough presence at a specific spot at any given time, it will be their ‘lack of interest’, because you know, but for that it would have been a peaceful convention. There is simply no way for the police to come out of this as anything but the needed scapegoats. Any cop who isn’t sick, injured, on vacation, on leave of absence, needed on the family farm in western North Dakota – something! anything! – is foolish, because if he or she is here and working behind their badge, “IT” will be their fault. God help them all.

  26. Ledwith is shrewd in projecting the possible horrors of this convention, which will marry contemporary Soros Democrat enthusiasm for crime with contemporary Chicago Democrat enthusiasm for governance by teachers unions.

    I only take issue with one possibility he cites as negative: “Stop Oil activists gluing their hands to Nancy Pelosi.” Now, THAT one I’d pay money to see.

    I’ll add one more: A special luxury box at the UC for Mayor Johnson to be continuously, expensively made up, barbered and primped. Close-up cameras would be nice.

  27. John, it does not matter what we do. There is no Parenting anymore, the kids are the boss, the Parents even go for job interviews with their kids. Would you believe that? America is lost and I am shocked that the young are getting paid to destroy our Cities. They are protesting, the College kids are getting paid to Protest our Universities. Hamas seems to have the upper hand and the American Voters do not seem to care. Obama is behind the curtain running the show. It is done John. So sad that immigrants came legally with sponsors and jobs and are told that no we did not built America. What do you say to that. Unless the people wake up and Vote the Evil ones out we are doomed.

  28. Michael, your well written scenario of possibilities did not include a comparison to Mrs. O’Leary’s cow…..but after all, that was long ago. I am afraid that the citizens of Chicago will get burned in ways that this cow could not.
    The DNC could very well be a barn burner in more ways than one.
    God bless you Michael and you also John Kass.
    Tom

  29. Great article & spot on Mr Ledwith. I’d better make my semi-annual trip to the city from NC to stock up on my foodstuffs & hit my favorite restaurants while they still exist. Who knows what is going to happen not just in Chicago or Milwaukee, but the entire country. It’s like watching Planet of the Apes in real time. The apes are the politicians/media/Antifa/BLM & the citizens are the captives. I believe some day soon we will see vigilante groups all over the country, having had enough of the Marxists destroying once great cities. The police cannot do their jobs, so citizens will take it upon themselves.

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