* Northwestern University political scientist Wesley G. Skogan’s new book Stop & Frisk and the Politics of Crime in Chicago is the subject of his WBEZ interview…

Q: These traffic stops became the Police Department’s main way of seizing illegal guns. Block Club Chicago and Injustice Watch have found that, since 2015, CPD has carried out 4.5 million traffic stops. In 2021, the most successful year for seizing weapons during those stops, the police made 156 traffic stops for every gun arrest. What are the effects of making so many stops for one gun arrest?

Skogan: One of the consequences of this enormous number of unwarranted stops — stops of innocent people — is that they come away with a very sour taste in their mouth. What they discover is that police officers don’t want to listen to what they have to say and the officers push them around and shout at them, even though they find nothing. What the people walk away with is a very bad experience, which undermines their trust in police and undermines the legitimacy of the police in Chicago.

And that has consequences. The Chicago Police Department’s real problem, starting in the early 2010s, was the collapse of its ability to solve shootings and homicides. The number of those crimes for which they recover a gun, find a suspect, make an arrest, make what’s called a crime clearance — it began to plummet. It’s now extraordinarily low. And that limits the capacity of investigators — the detectives — to do much about crime. And because no one has been arrested, that leads many community members to conclude that the police aren’t trying hard, that they’re not paying attention to the lives of people like them, that they are not being protected.

* Skogan’s advice to the incoming mayor…

The arrival of a new mayor and police superintendent is an opportunity for some new thinking about policy. We know a lot about things that will reduce crime in the streets. Chicago has already started to mount a pretty effective campaign using violence interrupters and related community organizations that provide services and support for young men who are in trouble. More of that is always welcome.

We also know that a focused deterrence strategy — which drops the idea of stopping hundreds of people to deter one little crime and focuses instead on a very small network of high-risk, high-offending people — is a much more effective way to get more bang for your stops and more bang for your investigations. So, the incoming mayor should focus on this detective-oriented police work.

Efforts to rebuild Chicago’s Black community are also really important. That community has been getting poorer and more isolated over time. Some dramatic action to try to bring Black Chicago back into the mainstream of city economic life is absolutely important.

The Center Square, meanwhile, posted an opposing view written by a communications intern at The Heartland Institute. So helpful.

* Speaking of the police…

As a newly formed commission launches a nationwide search for the Chicago’s next top cop, campaigns endorsing current and former Chicago police officials for the job are already impacting the process and raising some alarms.

The first-of-its-kind search by the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability has so far centered on three public meetings that have elicited seemingly coordinated efforts to raise the profile of certain police supervisors, including at least two who are also being pushed in online campaigns.

Anthony Driver Jr., the commission’s interim president, said those efforts are complicating the search, which relies on getting independent input from residents. […]

“We’re looking for the person to do the job, so community members’ voices are very important and their voice will be at the forefront,” he added. “But if somebody has 5,000 supporters and another person has 20 [and] the person with 20 seems way more qualified, then that’ll create an issue.”

One of the candidates even appeared in a campaign-style video. But, is it really all that unhealthy when members of the public speak up for their local commanders? We’ve seen plenty of mediocre (and worse) people chosen by “experts.” Then again, I can most definitely see where this could really get out of hand. Your thoughts?

…Adding… From David Axelrod’s interview of Brandon Johnson on what he’s looking for at
CPD…

Right now, we have supervisors who supervise the supervisors, you have police officers that will have a different supervisor, sometimes three to four in one week. Now granted, they all might be part of a cadre of law enforcement but you know, every supervisor brings a different element. Right? And so having some consistency around supervision is really important, and having a superintendent who understands what it means to be compassionate, collaborative, and someone who was competent. That’s what what I’m going to look for, and that’s what we’re going to find to serve as superintendent in the city of Chicago. I’m very confident that we’re going to find someone that gives confidence to the rank and file but also understands constitutional policing.

…Adding… Final results map…

With final results by ward, Brandon Johnson @Brandon4Chicago defeated Paul Vallas by 26,448 votes & 4.3% in the Chicago mayor election. Johnson won every Black majority ward & he won northside liberal wards. Johnson won 6 Latino majority wards #chimayor23 #electiontwitter #twill pic.twitter.com/IdFSbevWdY

— Frank Calabrese (@FrankCalabrese) April 28, 2023

* Isabel has some Chicago-related stories in her morning briefing, but she rounded up some more for this post…

* Tribune | What to know as Brandon Johnson prepares to become Chicago’s next mayor: Since winning election this month, Johnson has been assembling a transition team, traveling to Springfield to meet with lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly to lay out his hopes and goals for his first term and picked his chief of staff.

* NBC Chicago | Brandon Johnson Reveals the Advice He Received From Former President Obama: “We spent a lot of time talking about our families,” Johnson said. “Here’s someone that was president of the United States, was an organizer and worked as a legislator, (but) he raised his family too.”

* Sun-Times | Frank Annunzio, who represented Chicago in Congress, was linked to the mob, his FBI file shows: The records — released in response to a public records request and now part of the Sun-Times’ “The FBI Files” online database — also reveal there was a years-long federal investigation into a “proposed bribery scheme” described as having focused in part on Annunzio. That investigation was closed in the mid-1980s without any criminal charges, the files show.

* Tribune | California launches legal battle with railroads that could lead to reduced train emissions in Chicago: The California Air Resources Board voted unanimously to require railroads to cut diesel soot emissions from passenger, freight and industrial locomotives by 91% by 2050 and to slash smog-forming nitrogen oxides, or NOx, by 86%.

* Sun-Times | First night meeting of the Chicago Fishing Advisory Committee draws new voices: Illinois’ assistant fisheries chief Kevin Irons said they are in the process of hiring two people to replace Brenda McKinney, who retired last year, with plans to expand the Urban Fishing program; hybrid bluegills will be stocked in the Chicago lagoons but not channel catfish; and he reminded about the fishing equipment loaner program that about 150 libraries are doing statewide.

* WBEZ | After death of Emmett Till’s accuser, Chicago-area cousin says, ‘No one now will be’ held accountable: “Our hearts go out to the family of Carolyn Bryant Donham,” Parker, of Summit, Illinois, said in a statement. “As a person of faith for more than 60 years, I recognize that any loss of life is tragic and don’t have any ill will or animosity toward her. “Even though no one now will be held to account for the death of my cousin and best friend, it is up to all of us to be accountable to the challenges we still face in overcoming racial injustice.”

* Block Club | These Humboldt Park 5th-Graders Are Spreading Awareness About The Need To Protect Rainforests: A group of 10- and 11-year-old students at Casals School of Excellence, 3501 W. Potomac Ave., studied rainforests around the world for an expeditionary learning project this school year. The students then launched a multi-faceted campaign around safeguarding rainforests, urging the school community to do its part.

* Crain’s | Meet the photographer capturing iconic images of the Chicago skyline: Some of the most iconic images of the Chicago skyline would not exist if Barry Butler hadn’t broken his collarbone during a hockey game some 25 years ago.