Murder Rates in Chicago Have Dropped Over Mayor Richard M. Daley's Tenure, But Skeptics Remain

Chicago - Statistically speaking, it looks like Mayor Daley has done a great job fighting crime in Chicago. When he took office in 1989, the annual murder rate was sky-high, in the 850 per year range. In 2009, there were only 450.

But on the front lines of the police department, a number of current and former officers are blasting the Mayor for how he has demoralized the department. Things have been particularly bad ever since Daley plucked Jody Weis from the FBI to be Chicago Police Superintendent.

"You've just had a deterioration of the professionalism of the police department, and you've had a deterioration in the trust between the community and the police department and all these things are under Daley's regime," said Patricia Hill of the African-American Police League. "I'm not trying to kick a dog when he's down, but I cannot think of one positive thing that the community and the public has benefited from in regard to the police since Daley has been the mayor."

Ceasefire director Tio Hardiman disagrees.

"I think the mayor did the best he could do," said Hardiman. "You have to understand Mayor Daley had to be mayor of the whole city. In reality Mayor Daley had done a pretty good job of getting the violence down over the last two decades."

Former police officer and current CAPS director Ron Holt lost his son Blair in a gang shooting on a CTA bus. In spite of the tragedy, Holt is supportive of the Mayor's efforts.

"The mayor has been at the forefront with a lot of the faith-based groups, community organizations, and parents who have lost their children to act of gun violence throughout the city," said Holt.