‘Yes or No!?’ Chicago’s Dem Mayor Refuses Five Times to Answer Scarborough on Whether He’d Accept More Cop Funding

SCARBOROUGH: “So let me ask you, Mr. Mayor, those all sound like great programs. I’m curious, would you also like to get federal funding to help put 5000 more cops on the street in Chicago? Would that help drive down crime?”
Johnson: “Well, look, policing by itself is not the full strategy — “
SCARBOROUGH: “No, I understand that. You’ve talked about the other things you want. And I said, those are good and important programs. But I’m asking also, would 5000 more police officers on the street in Chicago be helpful to go along with all of those social programs that a lot of cities are engaging in and having success with?”
Johnson: “Well, look, here’s the best way I can put it, Joe, is that in the 90s, when I was in high school, we had 3000 more police officers, and we had 900 people being murdered every single year in Chicago. It’s just not policing alone. Of course we want more detectives — “
SCARBOROUGH: “I know it’s policing alone, but — I know it’s not policing alone. You’ve told me everything else you want. I’m curious, and this does come down to an ideological difference between — between people. Do you believe that the streets of Chicago would be safer if there were more uniformed police officers on the streets of Chicago?”
Johnson: “I believe the city of Chicago and cities across America would be safer if we actually had, you know, affordable housing. Look, I’m not saying we don’t — “
SCARBOROUGH: “But that’s not the question I asked. My question is — and I just need a yes or no — do you believe the streets of Chicago would be safer with — if you got all of those other extraordinary programs put back into place, which do have a history of being successful, if that’s complemented by having 5000 more cops on the streets of Chicago?”
Johnson: “I don’t believe that we should narrow it down to just police officers, Joe, is what I’m saying.”
SCARBOROUGH: “I’m not.”
Johnson: “That is an antiquated approach. I’m saying we’ve invested in detectives .. “
SCARBOROUGH: “I’m not, Mr. Mayor. Are you hearing what I’m saying? I’m agreeing with you that all of these other social programs are extraordinarily important. I just need a yes or a no, and then this will be the last time I ask. If you get all of those other social programs that — that 800 million, that New York City does, Los Angeles, other people do with great success, would an additional 5000 cops on the streets in Chicago help complement those programs to make Chicago safer?”
Johnson: “Look, we are working hard to make sure that our police department is fully supported. I don’t believe that just simply putting out an arbitrary number around police officers is the answer. What I’m saying is policing and affordable housing. It’s policing and mental and behavioral health care services. It’s policing and youth employment. It’s a full package. Of course we want to make sure that our police department is fully supported. That’s why I’ve invested in our detectives bureau, because what we have seen in the city of Chicago, when we solve crime, it acts and serves as a deterrent. It’s policing and all of the other efforts that we’re doing. Here’s the last thing that I’ll say to that. The federal government could work stronger to coordinate with my police department to get guns off the streets of Chicago. We’ve seen these coordination efforts work. Just a couple of weeks ago, the ATF working with my police department, we removed over 150 guns off the streets of Chicago that were trafficked in through Mississippi and Indiana. No one is saying that police officers don’t play an incredible role in driving safety. They play an absolute pivotal role in that. But we have asked law enforcement to do too much. Police officers are being asked to be social workers, counselors. What I’m simply saying is, if we’re going to build safe and affordable cities across America, the one thing that safe communities all have in common, they invest in people. We have a poverty issue in the city of Chicago and cities across America. Police officers alone will not put food on the table. Police officers alone will not guarantee a high-quality education. Police officers alone won’t drive down unemployment. We need all of it. The president of the United States of America and the federal government could restore Medicaid. They could restore SNAP. They could stop defunding our public education system. Here’s the most important point here. Justice Brandeis, over 100 years ago, the first Jewish American to sit on the Supreme Court, he said that we could either have a democracy or wealth in the hands of the concentrated few. He said, ‘But we cannot have both.’ We are fighting for our democracy and our humanity right now. This president’s nescience of the Constitution will leave irrevocable harm on posterity. That’s why, as mayor of the city of Chicago, we are standing up to tyranny, and American cities across this country are doing the same.”