ArcaMax

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson barely had time to savor his victory before he was facing new questions about an issue that dominated this year’s mayoral race more than any other.

Would he be tough enough on crime?

Crime dominated the mayoral campaign. Chicago has been contending with everything from mass transit robberies to a three-year surge in gun violence that has only begun to wane.

Although some other cities have experienced similar surges with the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago also has long contended with scandals related to police abuses, breakdowns in police-community trust, and the consent decree, a court-ordered overhaul of the Police Department that puts CPD under federal oversight.

The new questions for Johnson, who took office Monday, arose when, as mayor-elect, he issued a statement following unrest on a warm weekend in mid-April that drew crowds of young people and erupted into violence and vandalism on some downtown streets.

How, many wondered, would Johnson react? He faced a barrage of attacks during his campaign over his support for a more “holistic” approach to public safety. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and former city budget director Paul Vallas, Johnson’s opponent in the runoff, accused him of wanting to defund the police.

“In no way do I condone the destructive activity we saw in the Loop and lakefront this weekend,” he wrote on his social media pages. “It is unacceptable and has no place in our city.”

Fine. That sounded reassuring enough for the skeptics to chew over.

But, then came Johnson’s “However …”

“However,” he continued, “it is not constructive to demonize youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities.”

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