Police Supt. Weis admits murders up from last year

Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis said Saturday that a recent spike in violence had led to an increase in the number of murders since last year.

Weis, speaking at an anti-violence town hall meeting aired on WBBM-Channel 2 and WBBM-AM (780), said "we've had an increase in murders from last year, and that's sad.''

Weis did not release specific figures, and a police spokesman said late Saturday that official crime statistics won't be released until the middle of the month.

Statistics released last month showed crime so far this year was down slightly from the same period last year, when murders were at a pre-1966 level for the fourth year in a row.

But April was a violent month. In one weekend, there were 36 shootings and seven murders.

Weis also acknowledged community concerns about police brutality after he was questioned about incidents including a highly publicized video of an off-duty police officer attacking a bartender.

"If people do not have the confidence in the police right now, I can understand that,'' Weis said. "There have been a lot of events that happened over the past year that we're certainly not proud of.''

He said police need to "restore the trust'' of the community. He encouraged those who don't trust police to report crimes to a minister or pastor.

One policy Weis instituted recently was to require police officers to identify themselves when they pull someone over during a traffic stop. Officers must also reveal the reason for the stop.

"I was surprised we didn't have that in place,'' Weis said.

Sun-Times staff report