Chicago City Wire

More than a year after shunning federal assistance from former President Donald Trump, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is begging for help from the Biden administration to combat the city’s skyrocketing crime rate.

In a Dec. 20 press conference, Lightfoot asked U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to send agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as federal marshals.

"We need these additional resources well in advance of summer," Lightfoot said.

Lightfoot is seeking assistance from the agency in solving outstanding gun crimes.

Last year, Lightfoot declined Trump’s offer to send federal agents to the city to assist in law enforcement efforts.

“What we do not need, and what will certainly make our community less safe is secret, federal agents deployed to Chicago. Any other form of militarized assistance within our borders that would not be within our control or within the direct command of the Chicago Police Department would spell disaster,” Lightfoot said at the time in a letter to Trump.

Trump did deploy federal agents to the city — as well as similar affected cities — last year after rioting wreaked havoc in the downtown area.

Lightfoot's plea comes as Cook County’s murder rate passed 1,000 for the year in early December 2021, double that of 2019. The county last saw 1,000 murders in a year in 1994. The city is responsible for 783 of those so far. 

Business owners and residents alike have increasingly started speaking up against the administration.

Gold Coast Exotic Motors’ Joe Perillo announced an "enough is enough” movement last week after smash-and-grab thieves terrorized his employees and made off with over a $1 million in jewelry, the Chicago City Wire reported.

Many have pointed to the city’s refusal to incarcerate criminals as the source of the city’s crime woes.

The common looting occurring in parts of Chicago today is subsequent to a 2016 decision by Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx to only prosecute shoplifting over $1,000.

In the wake of that decision shoplifting has become an increasing problem with some retailers shutting down entirely.

Perillo and others have argued that allowing rampant criminality by not prosecuting thieves creates an environment for more serious crimes such as murder.

Lightfoot previously suggested business owners such as Perrillo were responsible for their own safety, and castigated them for not hiring security guards.