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Francisco Martinez
Professor, Probst
English 1102
11/24/16
Saving Chicago From ItSelf
More police officers being hired could lead to a downfall of crime in the city, It could
hopefully also make residents feel safe and secure instead of feeling like they are in danger due
to gang activity and random acts of violence. It has not always been easy to locate where the
criminal activity takes place, so to counter that the police departments are now attempting to use
old and new incident reports. Block Richard states that " It is shown that this technique may be
useful both in describing gang activity areas and in describing the spatial distribution of crime in
large cities.(Block Richard. "Gang Activity And Overall Levels Of Crime: A New Mapping Tool
For Defining Areas Of Gang Activity Using Police Records.) I believe block Richard is saying
that With these records the police can precisely pinpoint where the most criminal activity
happens and send more cops to those locations to discourage the criminals from acting. But the
only way that the department would be able to send more cops to patrol the areas they would first
need to hire more in order to meet the demand. In the end this technique of being able to
successfully use old and new incidents to accurately know where the next criminal offense could
take place is tool that could be put to use by all surrounding police departments.

Now some might say that hiring more police officers is a bad idea because of all of the
cops are power hungry and only provided violence to our world. Like in the past from 2004-2009

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a lot of people were getting their houses foreclosed and short after crime began to rise in the
communities. The author explains that "Foreclosures and the subsequent property vacancies and
residential turnover may affect community crime rates by increasing opportunities for property
crime and by undermining informal social control among community residents"(Kirk, David S.,
and Derek S. Hyra. Home Foreclosures And Community Crime: Causal Or Spurious
Association) Basically David Kirk is saying that there is no need for more cops because they
become power hungry men, Which leads to political corruption that will cause families to
foreclose their houses. With more families being foreclosed due to corruption it will lead to the
rise of crime in the neighboring communities and families look for new homes. Clearly David
Kirk has provided good evidence as to why hiring more police officers would be a bad idea
because there might a few bad apples that would be hired.

Yes it may seem like not having more officers is a good idea because some turn bad and
other obuse thier power and it would cost taxpayers more money but in reality it is not, The
police force will do everything in their power to protect and serve the community. One bad apple
cannot ruin all the others. The police are essential to enforce the law so that the City of Chicago
try to remain civil. without the law being enforced the world would be a bigger shit show than it
already is. People hate officers so much that they really go out of their way to file false
accusations in order for a officers job to be terminated. "Using binding arbitration as a means of
resolving disputes over attempts to fire or suspend sworn officers is very common, especially in
many larger departments"(Mark Iris"Police Discipline In Chicago: Arbitration Or Arbitrary)
This quote alone is one of the best quotes that supports my argument, basically Mark Iris states
that more and more officers are either fired or suspended due to arbitration, arbitration is just a

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fancy word for a third party decider. Any criminal with a big enough grudge could Just easily file
a false claim and get an officer fired or suspended. At last Mark Iris has shown us that Criminals
can very easily cripple our police departments he has also shown that there is no way to stop this
unless there is a law that is put in place to prevent it.

As I was growing up It was always sad to see and hear that the city you grew up in is
known as "The Deadliest City". The South Side has always been known to be a bad place but
over the years it's just gotten out of control, it is just another reason why more police officers
would be beneficial for all. It will make everyone feel safe enough to the point where instead of
choosing to do bad you could choose to take educational programs and other skills to better
themselves.Megan Lambertz states that "There remains a necessary shift from the passive images
of those killed by violent acts to the active efforts of nonprofits working to decrease violence as
well as educational programs focusing on interpersonal skills, mediation, and emotional
intelligence."(Lambertz Berndt Megan . "Liminalizing Progressive Efforts In Chicago: Moving
Forward And Past Violence.) Megan Lambertz gets straight to the point better people, better life,
better city, Everyone should want to better themselves and everyone should have the opportunity.
But with all the crime going on and one trying to reduce it all the people feel they are better off
in the life of crime. All in All There has to be a change to the southside Megan lambertz offers a
small solution which is trying to help those in need, offering classes to better themselves so they
can better their lives.

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Low-income residents, there is no nice way to put it but they are usually the ones who
commit crimes such as robbery, selling of narcotics etc. It's also a fact that they live in what is
called the projects. Well a couple of years ago the Robert Taylor Projects were destroyed, and
since then it was noticed by the Police departments that Crime seemed to be spreading from one
isolated location to neighborhoods all over the city of Chicago. David Melsness states that "The
objective is to analyze possible relationships between the demolition of the housing project and
crime trends of murder, robbery, and total reported index crime in surrounding police
districts"( Melsness, David, and Ryan Weichelt. "Spatial Crime Displacement On Chicago's
South Side) According to Melsness there was a big rise in crime when the projects were
destroyed and it would have been more beneficial to just have kept them up in order to keep
them in one location instead of having them spread out to other communities like they have now.
in essence David Melsness has states that criminal activities are taking place all over the city
because the projects were destroyed and people were forced to relocate essentially taking the
criminal activity with them.

The Police Department always has our best interest at mind, all they want to do is protect
and serve us. They dont join the Force just to mistreat and kill people since 1800's the
department has been a big part of the city of Chicago, granted the violence was not as bad as it is
now. As the prominent philosopher Sam Mitrani puts it "which by the late 1800s had grown into
the most violent, turbulent city in America"(Mitrani, Sam, and Muse Project. The Rise Of The
Chicago Police Department: Class And Conflict) Sam Mitrani is insisting that back in the day
the department was able to handle the violence but since the city has gotten worse it would only
be appropriate to hire more officers to try reduce the violence and enforce the law all over the

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city. In the long run if more police officers were to be hired it would not only make the city feel
more protected and secure but there would also be a potential chance that an officer influences a
young child and show them that they can achieve what ever they put their mind too.

So I'm not sure if anyone else is trying to figure out a solution on how to improve the
city, But one major and easy way to solve the issue is to HELP THE YOUTH this hands down is
the best way to help improve the city. Voisin himself writes " Results Adolescents who reported
higher rates of exposure to community violence were significantly more likely to report poorer
mental health, delinquent behaviors, a history of juvenile justice involvement, lower school
bonding and student-teacher connectedness."(Voisin, Dexter R., et al. "Behavioral Health
Correlates Of Exposure To Community Violence Among African-American Adolescents In
Chicago.") Basically, Voisin is saying that If the youth were to feel safe and protected they
would not have to worry about the violence that happens around them, the less violence the
youth witness the less likely they are to feel depressed and grow up to become delinquents and
drop out of school. Given these points Voisin states that if the Kids who live in the violent
neighborhoods already feel like they have no other choice other than to join the gangs, there has
to be a change these kids need role models in their lives to show them the way.

All things considered the city of Chicago is really struggling with this big crime problem,
and I believe that if the city were to hire more police officers it would solve a lot of problems
such as less violence for the youth which would ultimately lead to fewer children turning to
delinquents. With more officers, the city could also locate the areas where crime happens the

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most and put an end to it, try to help all the neighborhoods that become violent due to the
Projects being destroyed. There also has to be some sort of law that states you could face Jail
Time if you are caught being dishonest in order to get an officer fired or suspended. Making
Chicago great again could be a hard task but in the end, it would all have been worth it because
the city will strive as one of the best places to live in again, instead of being known as the
deadliest city in America.