"It's not a police issue, it's a society issue," Johnson told reporters outside police headquarters after a long weekend that saw 65 people shot, 13 of them fatally.
"Impoverished neighborhoods, people without hope do these kinds of things," he said. "You show me a man that doesn't have hope, I'll show you one that's willing to pick up a gun and do anything with it.
"Those are the issues that's driving this violence. CPD is doing its job," he continued.
Johnson pointed to increases in gun arrests this year over last year -- and more than 6,000 illegal gun recoveries so far in 2016 -- as evidence that officers are out on the streets working.
But he acknowledged that the fallout from last year's release of the Laquan McDonald video, and the amplified distrust between the police and African-American community, doesn't make it easy for his officers.
"Of course, they're human. They're people," Johnson said. "So of course, nobody wants to be the next viral video. These officers have families to take care of too."
The weekend had begun relatively quietly. But the violence spiked on the last day, with 31 shot between 6 a.m. Monday and 3 a.m. Tuesday. Nine of the fatal shootings occurred over that period.
Among those shot was Crystal Myer, who was nine months pregnant and was wounded in the abdomen on the same block where someone had been killed less than 20 hours earlier. No information on the baby was available. A man she was standing near was left in critical condition in the same shooting around 3:30 p.m. in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
CLICK FOR MORE
Posts
