People In Chicago Have Been Begging For Help For Years As Crime Becomes Unbearable, Trump Threatens Takeover

As President Donald Trump weighs a federal takeover of Chicago, the city’s residents have been begging for help with a crime crisis that is growing out of control.

Trump deployed federal law enforcement and National Guard troops throughout Washington, D.C., earlier in August, which has so far led to hundreds of arrests, many of whom were illegal aliens charged with crimes, including assault, rape, murder, DUIs, and drug smuggling. The administration is now eyeing a crackdown in Chicago, followed potentially by New York City. (RELATED Sh*tty Sidewalks, Broken Windows And Useless Cops: Three Stories That Sum Up DC‘s Gnarly Crime Problem)

“Chicago is a mess,” Trump told reporters Friday. “You have an incompetent mayor, grossly incompetent, and we’ll straighten that one out probably next, that will be our next one after this, and it won’t even be tough. And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice President, are screaming for us to come.” (RELATED: Seven Cities That Appear To Be Begging For A Trump Takeover And Four That Are Doing Just Fine)

The Windy City is, indeed, in the midst of a crime spike, and for years, residents have been voicing their concerns to local politician and police officials, without much luck.

In 2024, Chicago faced 28,443 violent crimes, with the number of aggravated assaults soaring to a two-decade high, according to a study from the Illinois Policy Institute. Despite this, city residents reported a reduction of 1,614 violent crimes compared to 2023, attributed to decreases in homicides, robberies, and criminal sexual assaults. Over the past ten years, the general trend has shown an upward trajectory in violent crimes, the study found.

Meanwhile, the arrest rate remains low, with arrests made in only about 14% of violent crimes, a figure that has been steadily declining for the past 20 years, according to the institute.

As early as 2021, Chicago residents began to sound the alarm. A WGN-TV/Emerson College poll from that year found that a significant majority of residents believed there was an increase in crime levels since 2020, with 62% indicating that they believed crime had risen. However, 24% of respondents felt the crime rate had remained stable, and only 14% asserted that there was actually less crime compared to the year prior.

In November 2023, residents of the West Loop neighborhood held a town hall to address the recent spikes in armed robberies and carjackings. Despite assurances from several Chicago Police Department officials who attended the meeting, residents were still left frustrated by a lack of progress and initiative from law enforcement.

“I’m sitting here listening to a bunch of people that don’t want to talk about the problem. I’m a citizen, I’m a father of two and if I know what’s going on out there, I know damn sure you know,” local Victor Jones told Fox 32.

Suzette Webb, another community member, told the outlet, “It feels unbearable. There’s a lot of talking going on, I think we need some serious policy changes.”