A city alderman’s push for a greater punishment to curb “teen coups” may experience modifications before a voting as soon as Wednesday.
Ald. Brian Hopkins promised when suddenly Tuesday to move forward on his charge for an 8 p. m. law for teens city, two hours earlier than the recent citywide rule. But he said he’s opened to tailoring the broad law so it targets the chaotic meetings he wants to stop, a walk he may need to generate to get City Council approval.
Conversations in the government are ongoing, and Hopkins is convinced he can get over a majority of alderman, he said. He may look to the counsel of Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling and officers city leaders before agreeing to modifications, he added.
“ When they feel that an effective tool is on the board in front of them— may or may not be the ideal solution, but good enough — we are going to go with that, ” Hopkins said. “ But we’re not there yet. ”
Hopkins ’ squeeze comes in the wake of two high-profile groups of young people in Streeterville that ended in crime. A 46-year-old visitor was picture in her arm on March 9 and a 15-year-old boy suffered shot eat wounds three weeks later.
The so-called young coups, fueled by social media posts, have sprung up in the area during earlier warm-weather vacation. They have sometimes ended in tragedy.
Johnson ’s administration deserves a “good grade ” for its handling of three takeovers last weekend that had been advertised online, including one gathering planned at Millennium Park, Hopkins said.
“A significant number of teens did get off the Red Line and went there looking for the party, and they did n’t see it, ” Hopkins said. “They saw a huge group of police officers standing at the ready, and they saw an even larger class of community-based crime interrupters, counselors, Chicago Public Schools workers, people willing to visit them and show them you don’t want to do this below. ”
Johnson said Tuesday that officers prevented another invasion and responded to the next that emerged in Hyde Park, where officials made “a bunch of detention. ”
“We want our young people to be able to examine every part of our town. That is their right as Chicagoans, ” Johnson said at a City Hall news conference. “ But we cannot allow groups to turn aggressive and put our young people and our entire populations at risk of firearm violence. ”
Asked where he stands on Hopkins ’ ordinance, the mayor pushed back on the proposal’s current downtown focus. “Diverting the problem somewhere else, that does n’t reflect my values, ” he said.
But like Hopkins, he signaled his openness to conversations, a weakening of Johnson ’s position on the idea compared to his previous responses. Without specifying what in the curfew ordinance might change, he said Hopkins had been “amenable ” to some suggested alterations and added that “the table is open and we are discussing ideas. ”
Hopkins said the president did not appear to resist his work.
“ He’s aware it ’s happening, and he’s letting it happen, ” the downtown alderman said. “ What his final selection may be, I won’t speak for him, I don’t understand, but I know he’s simply letting this play out. ”
Hopkins said he may take his latest law up for a ballot Wednesday, try to force a vote on an amended edition or take the amended version back to City Council council, where it could be more fully vetted by alderman.
Also Tuesday, Community Safety Deputy Mayor Garien Gatewood said nine companies had applied for a new city gunshot detection technology contract by last Friday ’s deadline.
Johnson ’s administrations opened the request last fall after the mayor axed the ShotSpotter acoustic gunshot detection system long used by police. The ShotSpotter shutdown, which Johnson promised in his mayoral campaign, rankled aldermen and sparked months of legislative battles over the emergency response tool.
Gatewood confirmed that ShotSpotter’s parent company, SoundThinking, was one of the companies that made a proposal. Company officials have said since shortly after Johnson ended their earlier deal that they would be among those vying for the new contract. The company will not be automatically rejected despite Johnson ’s past opposition, Gatewood said.
“I’m not standing out against anyone or holding any particular organization above another, ” Gatewood said.
The deputy mayor declined to discuss specific proposals, but said the process of picking from among them is already underway.
“The goal is to expedite it, ” he said. “To get something to continue on the downward trend of crime that we have seen, the downward trends of violence that we’ve seen. ”
According to CPD, murders are down 24 % through early April compared with the same time last year, while robberies, aggravated batteries, burglaries, felony thefts and motor vehicle thefts have also seen large drops.
Asked if new technology would be put in place by the summer, Johnson did n’t answer directly. Instead, he praised his broad efforts to improve public safety, touting work to add detectives, bring in new police helicopters, expand city-run mental health care and bolster community violence prevention work.
“We’re already seeing a decline without technology, ” he said. “If it were just one thing that could make us all safe, I believe the city of Chicago would have purchased that before I became mayor. ”
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