Chicago City Wire

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jesse Sullivan says Democrats are not doing enough to battle crime.

“Illinois families deserve to feel safe in their homes and in their communities. But that’s not happening today — under J.B. Pritzker and the liberals in Chicago, criminals get their way, cops are handcuffed, and victims continue to suffer,” Sullivan said in a press release. “When law enforcement demanded the repeal of the most anti-police bill in the country, Pritzker and the Springfield Democrats refused.”

Sullivan in the release said, "Years of anti-police policies led to the mass resignation of law-enforcement officers, Lori Lightfoot fired another 2,700 for being unvaccinated.” He also noted, “when smash-and-grab theft ravaged Chicago, the Democrats sent COVID police to fine small businesses.”

Sullivan said that a factor in rising crime rates is what he sees as a lack of support for the police. With a master's degree in global governance and diplomacy, the fifth-generation Illinoisan is campaigning on a public safety platform. He emphasized that "crime and public safety" is the number one job of the government. 

“If Illinois wants real change, we need a real outsider," he said. "That’s why more than 20 sheriffs, state’s attorneys and law-enforcement leaders around Illinois are backing me and my Safe Streets Plan, and why the voters are going to demand real change this November.”

For residents in and around Chicago, crime has become a big problem. Over the course of the epidemic, crime rates increased dramatically, with murder rates reaching new highs not seen since 1994. This year alone, auto thefts have increased by 45%, thefts have increased by 61%, and burglaries have increased by 33%, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

The criminal culture has created an atmosphere of open criminality. Just last month, a gang of car thieves broke into an Evanston car dealership and stole 14 luxury vehicles totaling more than $1 million.

State's Attorney Kim Foxx's 2016 decision to file charges for shoplifting thefts above $1,000, according to critics, is to blame for Chicago's present crime epidemic, Chicago City Wire previously reported. Shoplifting has become a rising problem as a result of that decision, leading to the closure of certain businesses. Foxx is accused of engaging in "selective prosecution," in which she picks and chooses which cases go to trial. According to Chicago business owners, Foxx's soft-on-crime tactics enable rampant criminality by not prosecuting thieves and encouraging more serious crimes such as murder. In the midst of escalating crime, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot recently stated that business owners should be held responsible for their own safety and chastised them for not hiring security guards.