Criminal Justice

Vallas: Chicago needs federal intervention, but not National Guard

Vallas: Chicago needs federal intervention, but not National Guard

Federal help is needed in Chicago, but it should be professional law enforcement and encompass the entire justice system. Sending just the National Guard is destined to create problems when Chicago’s embattled communities need solutions.

By Paul Vallas

4,098 Chicagoans killed in gang crime in 20 years

4,098 Chicagoans killed in gang crime in 20 years

Chicago gang crime declined to its lowest level in the past two decades in 2023, but the numbers may be more about gangs fracturing and police losing their gang database. Still, more than 1-in-5 homicides were suspected of being gang related.

By Patrick Andriesen

Tom Sanderson

Tom Sanderson

“Sept. 19, I had to work late. And along the way back to my parking garage at Wells and Madison, I stopped at a 7-Eleven.” “There’s a guy on the ground there, panhandling. He asked me to get something for him and I said, ‘Sorry, I don’t have anything for you.’” “As I came back...