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.
WTTW News reports:
City Council Votes 34-14 to Endorse Effort to Overturn Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Decision to Scrap ShotSpotter
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.
Watch this exchange between Johnson and the press:
Mayor Brandon Johnson ended Chicago’s contract with ShotSpotter after activists complained that the gunshot-detection technology is racist.
City Council just voted to REINSTATE it, including many loyal Democrats.
Johnson is not happy about it: pic.twitter.com/Fazp6aZqxH
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 23, 2024
Johnson should read the room. People in Chicago want to feel safe.