State Rep.: 'Maybe Police Are Responsible For Unsolved Murders Of Black Youth In Chicago'

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 19, 2013 5:40PM

Illinois State Rep. Monique Davis (D—Chicago) had an “I don’t want to spread rumors, but…” moment during an appearance Tuesday on a Detroit radio station when she said people have told her they believe Chicago Police are responsible for some of the unsolved murders of black youth in Chicago.

Davis was on WCHB-AM to discuss crime in Chicago when she said:

“I’m going to tell you what some suspicions have been, and people have whispered to me: they’re not sure that black people are shooting all of these children,” Davis said.

“There’s some suspicion - and I don’t want to spread this, but I’m just going to tell you what I’ve been hearing - they suspect maybe the police are killing some of these kids.”

Maybe Davis thought “not spreading this” meant bringing it up on a Detroit radio station, but modern media has a memory like an elephant and when WBBM-AM questioned Davis about the comment and if she believed police were responsible, she didn’t exactly backtrack and said, “I don’t know. I don’t know that they are, and I don’t know that they aren’t, since no one’s been arrested. We don’t know who’s doing it.”

Davis’ (non-)accusation drew a swift rebuke from Chicago Police Department spokesman Adam Collins, who called the rumors “baseless and outrageous.” A January report from DNAInfo Chicago showed that police were able to identify a suspect in Chicago shootings but were unable to file charges in 94 percent of those cases. Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said the "no-snitch" culture in Chicago's most violent neighborhoods was a leading factor.

Last week, Davis called on Gov. Pat Quinn to bring in the National Guard to help police in their efforts to curb the violence on Chicago’s streets and said Quinn, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a “blue-ribbon panel” of law enforcement officials and religious leaders could monitor and determine where the Guard could be located,