We were in the south-side office of Congressman Bobby Rush. He’d sent out word that he was convening a large group of elected officials, business leaders, and clergy to discuss what can be done about the daily casualty counts in Chicago.
Rush’s office is on a busy stretch of 79th Street in Chatham, just a couple doors down from where special-education teacher Betty Howard was slain by a stray bullet last week. Her killing was one of at least 137 since the start of 2014, a rate of nearly one a day that’s climbing higher as the weather warms. The city has also averaged almost six shootings every day.
Most area elected officials are frustrated and unsure of what to do about the violence, so they just don’t discuss it.
But others—including Mayor Rahm Emanuel—regularly respond by holding press conferences, often to blame political opponents and propose tougher laws.
As a veteran TV reporter joked as we waited Wednesday: “They solve this problem ten times a year.”