By John Dempsey, WLS-AM 890

(CHICAGO) As Chicago prepares for a potentially violent Labor Day weekend, Governor Bruce Rauner is rejecting calls to call out the National Guard in the city.    Rauner says while calling out the National Guard might make some people feel good, it would not really solve Chicago’s crime problem.  “Sometimes when you get emotional and you say ‘Well we’ve gotta do something. Well, let’s do something.’   The reality is that sometimes the something actually makes it worse. Or the something creates other problems. You’ve gotta think these things through and the implications and the National Guard right now wouldn’t make sense.”

Rauner says he and his staff have thought about the idea.   “Some people have said ‘Bring in the National Guard.’  We’ve discussed that, we’ve analyzed it we’ve discussed it with National Guard we’ve talked about it with national leaders, we’ve talked about it with community leaders,  we’ve talked with police officers about it.   No thoughtful leader thinks that’s a good idea or would really provide a solution, in fact it may exacerbate other problems, so nobody thinks that’s a good idea.”

Rauner told reporters crime on the west and south sides of Chicago is primarily due to young people feeling they have no chance to succeed in society.  “There are not enough jobs and more education quality in Chicago.  The schools, especially in low-income neighborhoods on the south side and west side, have not been invested in properly, have not been supported, and that is not giving the educational opportunity for the young people who see a career for themselves, and as a result they get drawn into gang violence.”

@ 2016 WLS-AM News

Activist Priest Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina church has called on Rauner to declare a state of emergency in Chicago so the the city could try and tap federal funds to address the problem.