Chicago’s wealthier sections are increasingly hiring private security firms to patrol their streets, Chicago magazine reports. With its police force decimated by attrition and officers demoralized by politicians who blame and abandon them, Chicago is set to amass more murders this year than in decades—driving a booming private security business.
This summer, one resident hired security to patrol his Gold Coast neighborhood; in a month, the off-duty police had swept drug dealers off his block. Marquette Park residents petitioned the City Council to become a “Special Service Area” tax district, with the additional revenue directed toward armed security. Southport hired security patrols in July, as well.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s less affluent are left on their own. Although Illinois became the 50th state to restore concealed carry in 2014, licenses aren’t easy to get—leaving residents with little more than plastic sporks to defend themselves. Is it any wonder Chicago’s lawless are so brazen?
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