Ald. Sophia King Proposes Plan to Combat Violence

Chicago Alderman Sophia King has proposed a plan to combat violence in the city. The plan also calls for a new $50 million city-wide initiative to create jobs and opportunities for youth, which will be called the Chicago Youth Jobs Corps.

The plan calls for creating more jobs, improving access to mental health services, and increasing the size of the police force by 250 officers. Part of the increased police force would be 50 new detectives and 20 additional community response officers.

One piece of the plan involves using drones to help fight crime while also keeping police officers out of harm’s way. It would expand the use of ShotSpotter technology, which alerts first responders when shots are fired.

Drone Technology

“ShotSpotter is a proven tool for reducing gun violence,” King said. “In other cities that have implemented this technology, gun violence has been reduced by as much as 50 percent.”

King said the cost of implementing ShotSpotter would be about $1 million per year over five years. She added that the city would get that money back through fines and fees related to gun crimes committed. Especially, when first responders arrive at crime scenes more quickly than they might have without ShotSpotter technology — including property damage caused by stray bullets or by people firing weapons while trying to flee police officers responding to reports of gunfire nearby.

It also calls for a new $50 million city-wide initiative to create jobs and opportunities for youth. Which will be called the Chicago Youth Jobs Corps. King has designs to increase mental health services as well.

This program would provide job training and placement services to high school students with 90% or higher attendance records who have a GED or another high school equivalency diploma. It would also fund existing job training programs run by community organizations that work with young people who are at risk of being involved in violence.

King Believes

In addition to those things, King said her plan also calls for using drones to help fight crime. They would also improve safety in public housing projects by installing video cameras on street corners and in public parks, where gang violence often occurs.

King believes the use of drones in Chicago will “help police officers fight crime and reduce violence.” The plan could make Chicago a safer city, she says.

King’s plan is an important step in reducing gun violence in Chicago. Although it may be hard to implement some of these ideas, they are worth exploring. For example, drone technology could potentially help police officers locate gunshots more quickly while keeping them out of harm’s way. Similarly, creating jobs would give young people positive outlets for their energy and frustration with society instead of being drawn towards crime or gangs because there isn’t anything else available for them to do at home or school during the afternoon after hours when many shootings happen throughout our city each day.

Written by Sheena Robertson

Sources:

Chicago Sun-Times: Mayoral challenger Sophia King unveils plan to reverse spike in violent crime
Chicago Tribune: Chicago mayoral hopeful calls for a ‘reserve’ of 1,000 retired police officers, use of drones

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Alderman Sophia King‘s Facebook

Inset Image Courtesy of Ellen Macdonald‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License