(The Center Square) – Illinois state Rep. La Shawn Ford is pushing for a different kind of conversation when it comes to making Chicago residents feel safe in their own neighborhoods.
Even with overall reported violent crimes across the city down in several key areas, a new Harris Poll finds that almost two out of every three Chicagoans say they are concerned about public safety in their neighborhood and almost half of those polled agree that they feel the problem of crime at home is worse than in other places.
“You can’t talk about crime is down, you have to deal with the reality that crime is still here,” Ford told The Center Square. “I think that’s where sometimes we sort of lose focus on people and their concerns, when we try to redirect the conversation and talk about what we want to talk about, that being crime is down.”
Ford argues all the doom and gloom needs to serve as a further call to action for lawmakers.
“It’s our responsibility in government to do what we have to do to make people feel safe by making sure that crime is reduced in their neighborhoods and they feel safe enough to walk the streets and live their lives,” he added. “If you have a government that ignores it, I think it’s negligent.”