Chicago National Guard: Lawmakers Want Help

Chicago National Guard

A toddler was shot to death in Chicago while sitting in a car with her two sisters. The gang member who fired the gun was aiming at the girl's father, who belonged to a rival gang.

The sad story captured headlines across the country but was far from the only violence on Chicago streets in recent days.

With seven people killed and 18 wounded in the past week in Chicago, two local lawmakers have asked Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to send out the National Guard to reduce street violence.

The requests come from Chicago Democratic Reps. John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford. Fritchey said he doesn't want to see tanks rolling down city streets but noted that a heightened presence of guardsmen on 9 percent of the city's streets, where most street crime takes place, would help.

Understandably, Chicago Police Chief Jody Weis is less than enthusiastic about the possibility of guardsmen stepping on to his police officers' turf. He said national guard officers operate under different rules than law enforcement officers and they may not work well together.

Weis added that he has plans to create a 100-officer team made up of regular and volunteer police to respond to high-crime areas. He said National Guard officers could help fill out those ranks.

It seems to me that asking the National Guard to hit the streets might provide a short-term solution for Chicago, and the fact that city and state lawmakers are now focusing on street crime, which has been ignored for too long, is a good thing.

Only a far more strategic set of solutions, targeting drug dealing, street gangs and the availability of guns, is going to offer lasting reductions of crime in Chicago.

But at least the governor, mayor and police chief cannot ignore the problem any longer.

People may differ on the best solutions, but no one can dispute the need for action.

So far this year, 113 people have been killed across Chicago. That is the same number of Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined this year.