(Law Enforcement Today) In an op-ed, Law Enforcement Today previously reported on the Chicago Alderman who publicly stated at a City Council meeting that he wanted fewer Chicago police officers patrolling his ward.
Now, according to CWBChicago, that same alderman is “demanding” that the Chicago Police Department (CPD) stop street vendor robberies that are on the rise in his ward.
On Friday, December 16th, Chicago Alderman Bryon Sigcho Lopez (25th ward) attended a press conference where organizers hoped to raise awareness about a pattern of armed robberies of street vendors.
In an apparent shift from his announced position of wanting fewer officers patrolling in his ward, at that press conference, he said:
“We are demanding of the City of Chicago the same public safety measures that we have in every other neighborhood.”
Several vendors and community members were in attendance at the press conference, but it remains unclear how many of them know that Sigcho-Lopez volunteered to give up officers in his ward, thereby making it easier for these robberies to occur.
Some of the vendors described what they have recently dealt with. Maria Isabel Bonilla Mendez said that she has been robbed twice in the last two months. She said:
“They’re also harming us in a psychological way. We can’t work like this because there’s a lot of insecurity. They come and they rob us at gun point.”
All vendors in the area reportedly signed off on a letter which they brought to city hall on Friday, December 16th, as they demanded better working conditions and police protection. Mercedes Alvarez, a street vendor said:
“Somebody to come just to rob us because they want the money? No, it’s not fair. We need somebody to help us to have more security in the morning and always here.”
During his term, which began in 2019, data shows that shootings are up 191 percent, which are their highest level since close to 2010, as far back as the city’s online database goes.
