Chicago City Wire

Kevin Coyne is sounding the alarm about what he sees as Chicago’s out-of-control crime problem.

“There are no deterrents and public safety is a serious concern for everyone,” the Safe Suburbs USA co-founder recently told Chicago City Wire. “You look at repeat criminals and they are not being held accountable and that's partly because a lot of legislation seems to embolden law breakers. People are very upset about crime and want to see something different.”

With Safe Suburbs, Coyne said the goal is to push and support as many pro-public safety candidates for office as the group can.

“That’s especially true for local office,” he said. “I would say it’s gone very well up to this point. We had dozens of candidates that we endorsed win their races in the last consolidated elections. We’re going to support our police and law enforcement and there is an appetite for that among most people.”

Coyne argues that’s evident based on the results of a recent poll conducted by the group that found most people want to see change in Chicago when it comes to its rising crime rate.

Civic leaders in Austin felt compelled to speak out following a mass shooting in their neighborhood last month that left six people, most of them teenagers, maimed and injured.  

Across the city, carjackings are also sharply on the rise with authorities reporting through June 16 such crimes were up 65% compared to the year before. At its current trends, the city is on pace to see 2,339 carjackings for the year, or 6.4 per day.

Coyne said Safe Suburbs has a plan to help end rising crime rates.

“We're fairly new but we're hoping to grow to have more money to support our candidates that won’t stand for this,” he said. “As a state, what we need is legislation that is not pro-crime or demonizes our police. Most officers are very good at doing a very risky job and we need to be supporting them. Voters should know there are going to be many candidates we support that will be seeking office to make public safety a top initiative.”