There are that many muggings?
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I encourage you to read through the daily reports linked above.
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This seems to contradict….
And this one directly contradicts the benefits narrative you suggest…
https://www.google.com/amp/s/chicago.cbslocal.com/2021/08/04/cpds-rising-retirement-numbers/%3Famp
CHICAGO (CBS) — CBS 2 is tracking a growing number of Chicago police officers leaving their jobs, even without a pension.
“People see us as the enemy and we’re not. All we’re trying to do is help the people of the community, the city of Chicago.”
The “defund the police” meme by the Right shows the power of propaganda. Crime went down nationally for 25 years under mostly Democratic Presidents, then starts to dramatically spike NATIONALLY under Trump and Republicans argue that crime went up because of protests that happened after crime had already started to increase.
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Do you have a source for this statement? In some areas, there have been increased retirements due to covid vaccine requirements, but I don’t know if that’s the case for Chicago Police Dept or U Chicago’s Police Dept.
Not in the least - for a few reasons, one of which is that the poster mentioned the Lyft option - new this year - and didn’t mention UGo which has been around for awhile now. It’s possible that the poster doesn’t live in the UGo service area which is why I asked. UGo’s service area was extended this fall as well to include the Arts Loop and weekend pickup from the CTA train lines.
Also, a word of advice: if you wish to keep the discussion going, it’s best not to go into attack-mode 
Unfortunately, the problem of violent crime and uptick in homicides isn’t confined to the University of Chicago - or even to the city of Chicago. However, as I indicated above, most students waiting for UGo are in designated areas on campus such as the Reg (the main library) or a res. hall. There’s lots of university foot traffic in those areas. While that doesn’t zero-out the possibility of falling victim to a shooting, the chances are diminished substantially on campus itself.
The advantage of Lyft is that it will stop right in front of your building. Still, if late at night I’d have my keys out and ready to unlock. Best to ask the driver to stick around till you are through your gate or door as well in order to discourage someone from following you inside and mugging you there (see the bulletin I pasted above for an example of how that can happen).
Also, a slight correction to 70’s original post: The Dept of Safety and Security is extending the Lyft program to every night through the TG holiday and will assess usage after that time. They are not only temporarily extending this service. This was made clear on the recent Safety and Security webinar. The more that students use Lyft each night - and the more positive outcomes as a result - the more likely the university is to make this a regular service. Keep in mind, however, that the Lyft service would not have prevented any of the three murders this year, as all happened during the day in places you wouldn’t expect them to (a secured garage of a high-end highrise apartment building, the CTA during rush hour, 1:30 in the afternoon on a residential street that this parent, for one, has walked down or parked on many times).
If “defund the police” was the cause of the increase in crime nationally, then states that are arguably “police friendly” like Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and Alaska should have the lowest crime rates.
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I don’t think the families of those who have recently lost family members to violence In Chicago would share your view that their loss is fodder for political commentary but instead see it as very personal.
People were killed, seems a bit off to use it to make a political statement regardless of political affiliation.
FYI I don’t see your USA Today article suggesting fear of pension changes as a driving force behind the decline law enforcement numbers. Do you have a source?
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I stand by my comment.
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Crime is highly correlated with poverty rates and different cities will have differential rates of crime as a result. That article precedes the pandemic, let alone the problems that hit nationwide in wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020. Event studies can tackle the question more effectively, although the issues surrounding proactive policing have been ongoing for the past several years in NYC, Chicago, and other large cities.
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I think this is the most important of several issues that I believe is driving the rise in crime nationally. Another issue is the ubiquity of firearms. States with more open firearms laws have higher violent crime rates. I think another, and harder to quantify, factor is that recent events are highlighting just how fragile the Rule of Law is in our society. Vigilantism is being celebrated in the Rittenhouse and Arbery trials, and there are violent attacks and threats of further attacks on our government institutions, such as January 6. The Rule of Law can not be situational. Either we have a Rule of Law or we don’t.
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Lol. Have you look Ed at pre 1955 violent crime rates? Have you correlated them to poverty and firearm ownership? What do you think happened to America in the intervening years? Please do not give the “voice of the unheard” “the urban blight needs money” boilerplate. It’s ahistorical
Let us try to come up with practical steps that can be implemented immediately to help with making the students less endangered while getting to and from campus, for example, would this help?
-increase the number of shuttle runs and the density of shuttle stops, so that students do not have to travel more than, say, 1 block, to a stop;
-have students wait just inside their apartment doors until notification that the buses are AT the stops;
-students then run to catch the shuttles.
As an aside, I thank JBStillFlying for providing information and insights on this terrible situation, which unfortunately, is not unique to UChicago.
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Doesn’t Chicago have extremely restrictive gun laws and consequently aren’t most firearm related crimes in Chicago being committed with already illegal weapons?
Once again innocent people have been murdered and people of good conscience shouldn’t seek to politicize it.
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I’m all for increasing the number of shuttle stops. And good point about waiting in a secure area for your shuttle - the Transloc app. will show you where it is in real time. It’s not just about safety - it’s also about weather!
With respect to other schools, a parent was sufficiently disturbed by recent criminal occurrences around UT to open this topic: Student safety, or lack thereof, at UT Austin.
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The campus police at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, a health science campus located in the city of Baltimore, runs a escort-to-your-house-or-car service; however, this might not be practical for UChicago, which has more students.
Every child should learn basic self defense and what to do when accosted for worst case scenarios. Austin can be gritty. Chicago however is a category in its own, both in its crime and super strict gun laws. It is a phenomenal school with a non insignificant chance of a life altering “encounter”. And there is zero plan to clean up the south side in either the dnc or RNC platform (despite what one poster says about past presidents). You’d have to basically militarize the area to bring its crime level down to say, Westchester levels.
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I am thinking why not spend some money to build fences around campus. Gated campus with tight security maybe help. I don’t know if it is possible or works because my kid’s university is a gated campus. Each entrance has a security guard.
The problem is off-campus in the larger neighborhood, which is home to a huge number of students, faculty and staff.
UChicago does a similar program:
https://safety-security.uchicago.edu/services/umbrella_coverage/
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