Chicago City Council Defies Mayor Johnson’s Effort to Drop Gunshot Detection System – Even Democrats Vote Against Him

May 24, 2024 by Mike LaChance

Earlier this year, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson tried to sever the city’s contract with ShotSpotter, a system that lets authorities know where a gunshot has occurred. People on the left convinced Johnson that the system was somehow racist.

Now the city council in Chicago has defied the mayor and even members of his own party are saying that they want the system back in place.

Johnson was asked about this by the media and seemed stunned.

The Chicago City Council voted 34-14 on Wednesday to endorse an effort to overturn Mayor Brandon Johnson’s decision to scrap the city’s use of ShotSpotter after an intense debate over the gunshot detection system.

The vote represented a significant rebuke of Johnson and the central promise of his campaign for mayor, which vowed to address the root causes of crime and violence rather than focusing on law enforcement.

The order calls for a City Council vote before ShotSpotter is removed from any Chicago ward and requires the Johnson administration to provide alderpeople with a host of data generated by the ShotSpotter system before the city’s contract with SoundThinking expires on Nov. 22.

Johnson could veto the order, which he has said is unlawful. However, two-thirds of the City Council voted in favor of it, raising the possibility that the City Council could override a mayoral veto, which has never happened in Chicago history.

The order approved by the City Council said Johnson “usurped the will of the City Council and their ability to represent constituents” by canceling the city’s contract with SoundThinking, which operates the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system.

Johnson should read the room. People in Chicago want to feel safe.

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Safe, they’d just like to know that they will make it to breakfast, usually the safest time in Chicongo.

-Edwin