geoff: It was another deadly
weekend in Chicago.
At least 14 people were shot and
three people were killed by gun
violence in the city.
More than 70 people have been
murdered in Chicago already this
year.
As John yang reports, crime has
become the top issue in
tomorrow's mayoral election.
John: Miracle Boyd --
>> Think of the violence that's
been happening.
John: -- And Carrie hogan, two
lifelong Chicago residents from
two different neighborhoods and
two different perspectives.
>> Sometimes I do get numb.
John: Boyd grew up on Chicago's
gritty southside.
Just 21 years old, she says she
has already seen far too much
gun violence.
>> My brother was shot entering
my freshman year of high school.
John: Her father, brother and
uncle have all been shot.
One, she said, was mistaken
identity, another a case of
wrong place, wrong time.
Many of those she grew up with
have also been victims of gun
violence.
>> I can count on more than both
my hands how many classmates
have died because it's more than
10 since elementary school all
the way through high school.
I would like to say that some of
our high schools, some of our
youth, are cursed, but that's
what it is seeming to be.
>> I literally dropped to the
ground.
I was laying on the sidewalk
thinking, I don't want to be the
next person on the news that's
killed by a stray bullet.
John: Hogan is an attorney who
lived in a north side
neighborhood for nearly two
decades and saw it change.
After a family member was shot
during a botched carjacking,
hogan and her two chocolate labs
packed up and moved to a sleek
neighborhood in the center of
the city.
>> I'm living in a condo, so I
have a door person now.
I have 24 hour security.
It just seems safer.
It might be an illusion, but I
feel safer here because there
are more people around and the
neighborhood is lit up.
John: Ask each of them their top
issue in tomorrow's nonpartisan
mayoral election, and it may
sound as if they are in
agreement.
>> Public safety safety is a
number 18 -- number one issue.
And if we could address public
safety, then we could address
crime.
>> For me, crime affects
everything.
It's the only issue that matters
in this election.
John: But for Carrie, the answer
is more police.
>> You have less police
generally, and then the police
that are left don't feel
empowered to really do anything.
And so that is a perfect formula
for crime.
John: And from miracle's point
of view, the police are
irrelevant.
>> The police show up after the
crime has already been
committed.
They don't show up to prevent.
>> Public safety means very
different things to very
different people in Chicago.
John: Heather cherone is a
reporter for WTTW, Chicago's pbs
station.
She says sentiments about crime
in the city is as much about
perception as reality.
>> We are seeing crimes and high
profile crimes in neighborhoods
that are not used to being in
the headlines for those reasons.
And that, I think, can add to
sort of people's sense that,
well, I used to feel safe here,
but I don't feel safe anymore.
And that is really in many ways
disconnected from what the
reality of crime is.
John: Shootings spiked in
Chicago during the pandemic more
than 800 people were murdered in
2021 alone.
While the number of homicides
dropped last year, reports of
a up 12% since 2019, the year of
-- dropped last year, reports of
violent crimes continue to rise
up 12% since 2019, the year of
the last citywide election.
A recent poll found that nearly
two-thirds of Chicago residents
say they feel unsafe from gun
violence and crime.
>> I'm not going to rest until
we are the safest big city in
America.
John: That could spell trouble
for mayor Lori Lightfoot as she
runs for a second term. She
faces a crowded field.
Eight challengers are trying to
make her the first incumbent in
decades to be defeated for
reelection.
>> What we don't need is
somebody who doesn't support the
police and in fact, wants to
divert resources from the police
to other projects.
John: The candidates are drawing
sharp contrasts over public
safety in the city's police
department, which remains guided
by a consent decree imposed
after the 2014 fatal police
shooting of 17-year-old laquan
McDonald.
Lightfoot points to her record
as mayor.
Hiring more than 950 police
officers last year and removing
more than 12,000 guns from the
city's streets.
>> We are bending the curve on
violent crime.
John: Everyone of Lightfoot's
challengers has pledged to
replace the police
superintendent she appointed.
Teacher turned cook county
commissioner Brandon Johnson --
>> What's up, Chicago?
John: Says he would reallocate
funds in the police department
and focus on the root causes of
crime by investing in schools
and housing.
>> Over 40% of the violence that
happens in the city of Chicago
happens in 6% of the
neighborhoods where I live.
>> Let's get Chicago back on
track.
John: Congressman Jesus Chuy
Garcia says he would increase
staffing and improve data
collection.
>> People need to feel safe to
do business.
John: And current frontrunner
Paul Vallas, the former CEO of
Chicago schools, promises to
hire 1800 new officers with a
focus on community policing.
>> Community policing is
critical because, you know, you
can't have half of the high
priority 911 calls not being
responded to.
John: That's an approach Carrie
hogan says turned this one-time
Lightfoot voter onto a new
candidate this year.
Why did you decide on Paul
Vallas?
>> We have to give power back to
our police.
We have to put more police back
on the streets.
We have to start policing our
city again to keep it safe.
So Paul Vallas is the person
that I think has the most
rational, reasonable policies in
that regard.
John: In the closing days of the
campaign, miracle Boyd and the
gun violence prevention
organization she works with held
a forum for Chicago's youth to
engage directly with the
candidates.
>> Our communities are
suffering.
Our youth are dying of gun
violence.
John: Of the four candidates
polling in double-digits, only
Johnson showed up.
>> I believe a better, stronger,
safer Chicago is possible and we
can build that together.
John: Johnson's plan for
community-based interventions
resonated with Boyd, and was a
big reason she says she's voting
for him.
>> He's actually been in the
communities, been on our talks,
been on zoom with us.
The citizens of Chicago is
calling for treatment, not
trauma, and not police to show
up.
John: While voters have been
casting ballots for a month, it
may be weeks more before they
know which candidate will be
tasked with trying to lower
crime in Chicago and to restore
faith in the police department.
If no candidate wins a majority
of votes tomorrow, the top two
finishers will advance to a
runoff election in April.
For the pbs newshour, I am John
yang.