A Chicago woman experienced firsthand the consequences of the city's failures to ensure its citizens have police protection.
The woman, only identified as "Michelle," waited for hours for a police response Wednesday after experiencing a home invasion, according to WMAQ-TV, the NBC station in the Windy City.
The suspects entered the home in the upscale Wicker Park district after Michelle let her dog out about 12:30 p.m., WMAQ reported.
When she saw two men wearing masks inside her home, she screamed, "I am calling the police," she told WMAQ.
"And they bolted," she told the station.
She was lucky they did.
Michelle called 911 after the incident, with a dispatcher telling her to wait for officers outside.
However, the cops didn't show up, according to WMAQ.
She repeatedly called back, the station reported. On the sixth call back, she asked to speak to a supervisor.
“A gentleman got on and said, 'sorry to say we have no units to send you'," Michelle told the station. "Then there was an awkward pause."
The man, apparently a 911 supervisor, even went so far as to ask Michelle to lobby her city alderman to provide the Chicago Police Department with adequate funding.
“He also recommended I call my alderman and I said, 'why?' and he said encourage him to hire more police," Michelle told WMAQ.
When officers finally arrived, they expressed apologies for the lack of a timely response, Michelle said.
It had taken no less than four hours and six different 911 calls to yield an on-scene law enforcement response.
“The officers who did show up cared and were apologetic it took so long to get them there," she told WMAQ.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has had an adversarial relationship with the city's police department since his inauguration last year.
The mayor declined to attend the funeral of slain Chicago Police Department officer Luis Huesca -- after the family of the deceased asked him to stay away.
JUST IN: Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson will *not* attend the funeral of Officer Luis Huesca. We're told the family asked Johnson and other politicians who they don't feel adequately support the police to stay away.
Statement from the mayor's office... pic.twitter.com/2WrjEfmuvp
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) April 29, 2024
Michelle told WMAQ she has contacted her local alderman's office and is awaiting the chance to meet with him in person.
She was also adamant that she was not blaming the cops in the case.
“I don’t think it is the police department’s fault they are overstaffed and overwhelmed," she said.
