Mayor Rahm Emanuel used his first meeting with U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Tuesday to discuss over the ways the federal government can help stop the gun violence on Chicago streets. The mayor's real intention, however, is to draw President Donald Trump's attention into federal action that could help the city
The U.S. Department of Justice reported that federal weapons charges in Chicago have been less active over the past five years despite the local rise in gun violence. Federal prosecutors in some other major urban areas like Milwaukee, Manhattan, Detroit, Brooklyn, and Baltimore have charged people with weapons offenses more than the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago has.
Therefore, Emanuel's meeting with Sessions focused exclusively on ways the Justice Department can assist Chicago in stopping the bloodbath on city streets resulting from gang violence. Another thing they talked about were investing in strategic predictive analytic rooms that was previously implemented in Englewood in the 7th District and the 11th District, a technology which Emanuel suggested to be taken to other police districts in Chicago.
The mayor's police reform list goes beyond gun violence policing to expansion of mentoring, summer jobs and after-school programs from which both the federal and state government have been temporarily absent, as he put it. "I talked about making sure that our kids have an alternative consistent with what I've said about BAM [Becoming A Man] as a mentoring program," Emanuel said.
"There's an account that deals with ex-offenders. We would like to see that because we have the largest ex-offender program. And help us with summer jobs and after school where the federal government has actually been cutting those resources." Emanuel said he also renewed his call for the U.S. Justice Department to level up federal prosecution of gun violence, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
However, there was no discussion of whether or not the Trump administration intends to pursue a decree towards the things Emanuel has mentioned - federal action in stopping gun violence, and allowing the sweeping police reforms. The reforms that were recommended by the U.S. Justice Department in the waning days of the Obama administration, were opposed by Sessions in the earlier times and he even reiterated the opposition during his confirmation hearing.
