Chicago mayoral candidates Paul Vallas, Brandon Johnson discuss violence prevention, safety at latest forum
Chicago mayoral candidates Paul Vallas, Brandon Johnson discuss violence prevention, safety at latest forum
When Johnson repeated his frequent claim that 40% of calls to 911 relate to mental health issues, a moderator told him the city says it's just three percent.? Johnson said he didn't believe that figure.
CHICAGO - It was one of the liveliest meetings yet between Brandon Johnson and Paul Vallas, who will face each other in the April 4 runoff election.
Former education secretary Arne Duncan, whose group Chicago Cred seeks to "interrupt violence," opened the forum with what seemed to be a direct challenge to Paul Vallas' pledge to hire more police. He noted Chicago has three times as many murders per capita as Los Angeles and nearly six times more than New York.
"Chicago has twice as many police per capita as the nation as a whole. We have more police than New York and way more than LA, based upon population. Please keep this in mind as you hear from our candidates today," said Duncan.
Vallas appeared to commit to spending $250 million to $300 million a year which Duncan says is needed for violence prevention social services. But Vallas said more cops are needed, too, pointing to 35,000 unanswered 911 calls involving violent assaults in progress.
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"On the 11th district, which is the most violent district in the city, probably the most violent in the country, there are some nights when there are only half the patrol cars needed to cover beats. And one night there wasn't a single sergeant. That's a recipe for catastrophe," said Vallas.
Johnson, who once sponsored a county board ordinance calling for police to "divest" funding, took aim at a widely circulated video clip. It shows him calling "defunding" police a real political goal, but he now says he was speaking about others, not himself.
"That's exactly what I meant because that's exactly what you heard. My public safety plan is an investment plan. We're gonna promote and train 200 more detectives," said Johnson.
When Johnson repeated his frequent claim that 40% of calls to 911 relate to mental health issues, a moderator told him the city says it's just three percent. Johnson said he didn't believe that figure.