Thousands Gather to Take Stand Against Crime

Residents congregate on Humboldt Park to take part in National Night Out project

Thousands of Chicagoans congregated on Humboldt Park Tuesday evening in a show of solidarity against crime.

The city's event was part of a larger, country-wide effort called National Night Out, which calls on citizens to turn on their porch lights and spend time with neighbors and city officials.

More than 36 million people took part last year with block parties, flashlight walks, parades and cookouts to increase awareness, support local anti-crime programs and strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community relations, the Daily Herald reported.

Mayor Richard Daley, in attendance at Tuesday night's event, said that too many people are dying from violent crime, especially guns, and again called for the end of the code of silence that only ultimately victimizes more people.

"America kills their own.  We're killers.  We kill our own.  We kill the rest of the world.  This is a bad omen for our country," said Daley.  "You're seeing incident after incident of a total disregard for human life."

Earlier in the day, Daley talked about new ways to combat violence, which included hiring more officers and transferring others currently on administrative duty back to the streets.  The city's predictive policing program will also be expanded, Daley and police Supt. Jody Weis said.

Still, many at Chicago's Night Out admit that it's not all about police.

"Parents have got to do their job too," said Chicago's Yvette Martinez.




 

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