Candidate Blane Roberts responds to the increased violence in Rogers Park

I was sadly reminded of the continued violence that is griping our community and impacting our quality of life. It happened in police beat 2431, Morse and Farwell area, this morning. I am outraged that we have not shown effective leadership in this area.

The gun violence in our community appears to getting worse and still we have no comprehensive plan. I call on all community leaders not to be reactionary but engage the youth of our community on a level beyond the police department. We must not allow this to continue to spiral out of control!

There will be no quick fix to this violence but surely we must have long term strategies that are effective. Our community needs strong leadership and we need it now. Some suggest that Rogers Park does not have a crime or gang problem. I am here to tell you, sadly, the elephant has been in the room for as long as I can remember. Why haven’t we done better? Everyone can and must do better! Regardless of what happens in the campaign everybody owes it to our community to be a part of the solution.

- Blane Roberts