Chicago Alderman Hires Private Firm to Keep Citizens Safe While Pumping Gas By Ben Cope - January 30, 2021
The Chicago Tribune reports that Coleman is calling the project, “Operation Safe Pump.” It is being launched at “Citgo on 63rd Street and the Dan Ryan Expressway, and the Shell at 55th and Halsted.”
The Chicago Sun-Times quoted Coleman declaring Chicago is in a “state of emergency.”
She said, “Any time one of us, an Englewood resident, is carjacked and held at gunpoint on Christmas morning, we know that it is time for us to come together and find some solutions as it relates to public safety.”
Another Alderman, Roderick Sawyer, is implementing “Operation Pump Safe” for two and a half hours on Sunday “at the Citgo gas station near 72nd Street and South Chicago Avenue.”
Carjackings in 2020 were up 135 percent over 2019. Breitbart News reported that a December 3, 2020, carjacking resulted in the fatal shooting of retired Chicago Firefighter Dwain Williams.
There have already been “at least” 166 Chicago carjackings in 2021, including the alleged carjacking of an off-duty Chicago Police Officer’s car on Tuesday. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the alleged carjacker was 14-years-old.