Chicago Alderman Stephanie Coleman reacted to a surge in city carjackings by hiring a private firm to provide security for an hour each day in which residents can safely pump gas.
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.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.