Lightfoot vows to stop Chicago’s gun violence

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot addressed the city’s violence problems in her inaugural speech, announcing the creation of a Mayor’s Office of Public Safety as part of her strategy.

Lightfoot said Monday morning after she took the oath of office that she has “no higher calling” than restoring safety and peace in Chicago’s neighborhoods. She punctuated this by saying “Enough of the shooting. Enough of the guns. Enough of the violence.”

Lightfoot says public safety “must not be a commodity that is only available to the wealthy.”

She says her plan includes mobilizing the entire city to fight violence.

Chicago police report 561 homicides in the city last year. That’s 100 fewer than in 2017 but more than the number of homicides in New York and Los Angeles combined.