The mayor also hit back at campaign rivals who have called for the termination of police Superintendent David Brown, saying he’s the right man for the job, and violent crime has decreased from quarter-century highs in 2021. Four of her five rivals for mayor have called for Brown’s ouster, to which Lightfoot scoffed, “Spoken like people who don’t know anything about public safety.” (Chicago Tribune/Emphasis mine)

The only people who do not know about public safety in Chicago are Lightfoot and Superintendent of Police David Brown. David Brown is an abject failure as a police superintendent. There is no other way to put it. Every one of his plans, strategies, and deployments failed. Yet, Lori Lightfoot stands by her man. Failure is success in her eyes.

Since Mayor Lightfoot was elected, over 12,000 people have been shot. Over 2000 were killed by firearms. That is data you can believe in. 12,000 people are roughly the size of a neighborhood or ward. Some of her opponents campaigning against her are criticizing her public safety record.

Lightfoot’s response? “Haters are gonna hate. Haters are going to hate.” Is Lightfoot channeling her inner teenager? Tarring legitimate criticism as hatred is despicable. Lightfoot proved her critics right. She is divisive.

Lightfoot’s campaign pin perfectly represents her first term, a comic. Her three years in office have been a comic strip, like her pin. One could wonder where that smoke is really blowing out from. No mayor in my lifetime would tolerate this type of public safety failure. Heads would roll throughout the police department’s command structure and keep rolling until the numbers were driven down.

The Chicago Police Department is in disarray. Morale is low. Manpower is down. Though they are taking record numbers of firearms off the streets, shootings, and homicides by guns are daily occurrences. Armed carjackings and robberies are a daily occurrence. Illegal firearms flowing into Chicago are a large part of the alternative criminal economy.

Some neighborhood groups hired or are considering hiring private security companies to patrol their streets. That is an ominous harbinger for Lightfoot. People do not trust her to keep their neighborhoods safe.

The data and analytics the police department provides and the media eagerly reports are meaningless. The data is not an indicator of anything. Perception is reality. People do not feel safe. City Hall is doing nothing to change that perception.

The streets are not safe. The Els are not safe. Parks are not safe. The beaches pose a threat. People, especially children, are not safe in their homes. Lori Lightfoot’s successes are overshadowed by the dark clouds of her failure in keeping the city safe from violent crime.

One of Lightfoot’s many mistakes was quitting her criticism of Kim Foxx over her failing “progressive” non-prosecution policies. Lightfoot publicly demonstrated cowardice. Mayors are not supposed to be cowards.

Contrary to what Lightfoot claims, change is not hard. It only requires deciding and acting on the decision. Words are meaningless without action. Mayor Lightfoot’s words are empty.