Weis's Woes

By Margaret Lyons in News on May 26, 2008 7:45PM

Burn on J-Fed: Time takes a skeptical look at our police superintendent, and they don't seem too persuaded that he's doing a good job.

From "The Woes of Chicago's Top Cop":

It had been one of the warmest weekends so far this year and so, Weis argued, there was simply "more outdoor activity, more opportunity for crimes to occur" — a common explanation for such crime outbursts, but not an especially persuasive one. The superintendent also noted that 15 of that weekend's 38 shootings were gang-related — as if that should make Chicagoans more comfortable with a homicide rate that has jumped 8.9% in the first four months of 2008 over 2007. Nor has Weis begun to truly address how this city of 3 million intends to thwart a gang population estimated to be as large as 70,000.

Also, Mayor Daley has "led a dazzling economic and cultural renaissance," Chicago's politics are "provincial," and "not everyone is sold" on Weis's policies.

Photo by Nick Suydam