Northwestern University law professor Ronald J. Allen appears to be of two minds when it comes to fighting crime (“The public conversation about reducing crime suffers from a deadly confusion”). The question raised by his July 19 op-ed is: Which one is closer to the truth?
Allen credits traditional policing for reducing crime and criticizes Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for being vocal about the need for police reform and his stated focus on root causes. At the same time, Allen laments conditions that breed crime — the definition of root causes — and calls for the kinds of interventions Johnson supports.
Without offering any evidence, he asserts that public pressure to reduce “aggressive patrolling” and to defund police led to higher homicide rates. The facts, however, suggest otherwise.
Specifically, over the last five years, police manpower in Chicago is down by about 1,600 officers, and jail and prison populations are at historically low numbers. Meanwhile, homicides hit a 60-year low in 2025 after four years of steady declines. So, Chicago has fewer police making fewer arrests and putting fewer people behind bars, yet crime is down in almost every category.
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Allen then pivots to a point that everyone, including the mayor, agrees with: “Policing … does not eliminate the conditions that give rise to criminality.” Sounding more and more like the progressive mayor he critiques, he goes on to say, “The root cause of most crime is poverty.” To that, we would add related social ills, including systemic racism, disinvestment, educational disparities and lack of opportunities.
Finally, Allen gets to solutions, which would also bring cheers from die-hard progressives: “Identify and help single mothers through at-home interventions. … Ensure that the child is read to and, to the extent possible, shielded from abuse and neglect.”
Echoing arguments that Chicago’s community violence intervention organizations have been making for years, he adds, “Compared with the cost of crime, interventions to offset the disadvantages of deprived environments would be cheap.”
Chicago’s progress in reducing crime is undeniable, though the exact causes of the decline will always be open to debate. What is clear is that the public safety ecosystem we have built, with traditional policing, robust social services and direct interventions, is saving lives.
— Peter Cunningham, senior adviser, Chicago CRED
Choosing a property tax hike
In the July 22 editorial “Illinoisans hate high property taxes. So why do we keep voting for them?” the Tribune Editorial Board points out that Illinois has one of the highest property tax rates in the nation, yet communities regularly approve referendums that will make their property taxes even higher.
The board singles out two communities: Skokie, whose residents approved a $53 million bond referendum to expand and improve their park system, and Mount Prospect, where, in two referendums, voters approved a total of $100 million for a new middle school and park facilities. The board goes on to say that “projects once viewed as ‘extras’ are now treated as necessities, even as they come at great cost to the taxpayers.”
In Chicago and the suburbs, the board notes, “everyone helps pay for the latest aquatic center, fitness complex or recreation upgrade whether they use it or not.” The board recommends that, before voting for a referendum, voters should ask, “What are we already paying for?”
In approving these referendums, it is clear that the voters have everybody’s best interest at heart. For example, public pools are available for everyone. The Mount Prospect school district has no doubt made population forecasts and found that it needs a new middle school. The voters agreed and are willing to pay for it. Does the board actually think that Mount Prospect can find enough waste in its school district’s budget to pay for a new middle school?
Back to the board’s question: “What are we already paying for?” Most property tax dollars go toward education, so how does Illinois compare with other states, especially the ones with low taxes? The World Population Review does an annual ranking of all states’ educational systems based on K-12 performance, school funding and resources, higher education quality and safety. By these criteria, Illinois’ education system ranks fifth in the nation. Our neighbor Indiana, whose taxes are much lower, ranks 31st. Texas, another low-tax state, ranks 34th.
Bottom line: Good government, including education, is expensive, and you get what you pay for. Voters who chose to pay more in property taxes for schools, parks or infrastructure should be commended, not portrayed as chumps.
— Dennis Sweeney, Chicago
Cover Chicago pension costs?
Regarding Paul Vallas’ latest op-ed (“Illinois can’t bail out CPS, but it could cover more pension costs, ensure fiscal discipline,” July 22): This is very simple. The rest of the state should not be paying pensions for people who never served their communities. Chicago’s retired employees are Chicago’s problem, not the rest of the state’s. Chicago should get its own house in order before asking people who have nothing to do with it to subsidize them.
— Lee Beran, Elmhurst
Building a better power grid
We continue to read about rising electricity rates that are exacerbating the inflation that is making our lives more expensive and difficult. While some states have been proactive in addressing the problem, a national solution is needed.
Our existing power grid can be made more efficient, but in the end, we will need to build new transmission lines and create stronger connections between each of the regional grids. A major problem is that it takes too long to build these lines due to outdated regulations. The cost of solar and battery storage has decreased so that most of the new generation capacity is clean. Unfortunately, the grid hasn’t been able to keep up, and this new capacity often has to wait years to get plugged in.
Federal legislation is already being considered in Washington to help ease these bottlenecks while still encouraging public input. Readers can ask their member of Congress to join them in support of comprehensive clean-energy permitting reform, so we can build our way out of these high electricity rates.
— Jon Berman, Elmhurst
What can delivery drivers do?
Interesting article in the July 19 Tribune about delivery trucks — Amazon, FedEx and UPS — parking in bike and bus lanes while conducting business (“Bike lane ticketing program records big fines against delivery companies”).
Though illegal to park in these lanes, where should these delivery drivers park for these quick in-and-out deliveries? Let’s face it. Legal street parking is nonexistent in many areas of the city. Secondly, lest we forget, these delivery drivers were vital to keeping our economy afloat during COVID-19.
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Maybe a little commonsense is needed here.
— Mike Rice, Chicago
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