More spending on youth programs won’t stop crime

Once again we get a new mayor in Chicago who thinks they have new solutions in curbing the violence and crime in our city. I’m sure the mayor has his heart in the right place and is hopeful his ideas will work as I also hope they will.

Some elected officials said the crime and violence we face is because the youth are bored. Give me a break.

The mayor wants to create more youth programs, thinking this will help solve some of the problems. We have already spent millions on youth programs. Let me ask: “How has that worked out?” We just had one of the worst Memorial Day weekends in recent years.

Let’s say we invested millions more on youth programs. The May 31 issue of the Sun-Times states we have major problems with crime and violence between the hours of midnight and 4 a.m. One would think these would be the hours our youth should be sound asleep in their beds.

Sorry, Mr. Mayor — if you think more youth programs will resolve crime and violence, you either don’t know the city or you’re in dream land.

Dan Goodwin, Humboldt Park

$51 million better spent on other problems

Approximately 50 Chicago Public Schools have been closed over the last 10 years. As the Sun-Times reported late last year, less than 25% of CPS students met or exceeded expectations in English and math.

During the recent mayoral race, multiple polls showed that public safety was by far Chicagoans number one concern. And the local economy is still suffering the devastating effects of the pandemic and civil unrest.

While the migrants need and deserve support, one can legitimately argue that the $51 million dedicated to the migrant crisis could have gone a long way in addressing other problems.

Terry Takash, Western Springs

Bring back police cadet program

Bravo to billionaire James Crown for his interest in helping chip away at Chicago’s violence. Kids need opportunity and a vision for the future. Cops cannot do the job alone. Almost every discussion involving the police and the community always seems to stop at the cop’s need to gain the trust of the community. The attempts have made very little change.

What better way to make inroads than to revive Chicago’s police cadet program? Instead of youth being observers, why not reinstitute a program that at one time was wildly successful in my observation? Scores of those cadets went on to great careers within the CPD, and without question changed many views and youthful lives along the way.

Gangs are always on the lookout for vulnerable youth to recruit into their world. Why not offer an alternative? I personally have never seen so many interested teens as when that program was in full swing.

I’m hoping Mayor Johnson will have a look at the benefits a revitalized cadet program can offer.

Bob Angone, retired Chicago police lieutenant, Austin, Texas