After a wave of lawlessness, female business owners in Chicago are protesting the city’s crime-ridden downtown by relocating their operations to the suburbs.
After being compelled to face a guy who attempted to take a pocketbook, Teresa Ging, the owner of a bakery in the city, said she felt like a “sitting duck” in the neighborhood.
Around 10.20 a.m. on Friday, the lone individual targeted her business, Sugar Bliss, on South Wabash Avenue in Chicago.
Before stealing a bag while she was in a meeting, he destroyed her countertop. She got the bag back before phoning the police.
Officers arrived 40 minutes later, so she sent a furious email to Mayor Lori Lightfoot criticizing the police department and pleading for more to be done to safeguard neighborhood businesses.
She also expressed her worries to Alderman Brendan Reilly, but she hasn’t heard back from him yet.
We’re just sitting ducks, Ging stated in a statement to CBS. He entered our business via the front entrance and turned to approach the till.
Teresa Ging, who owns a bakery in the city, said she feels like a ‘sitting duck’ in the area after she was forced to confront a man who tried to steal a purse at 10:20am on Friday. She had been hosting a ‘Women in Business’ meeting at the time
Uzma Sharif, owner of Chocolat Uzma, said that Chicago is worse than ‘Gotham’ because at least the fictional city ‘has Batman’. She says that she is planning to move to the suburbs because the alternative is hiring a ’24/7 security guard’ for her store
‘It happened very quickly, but I feel like it’s sad to say I’m numb to this is happens once a month at least.
Uzma Sharif, the proprietor of Chocolat Uzma on South Halsted Street in Pilsen, is also thinking of relocating due to a burglary that happened a year ago and a friend’s carjacking only a few streets away.
“We can’t live like this,” she said. Because of Batman, the city has improved; in fact, I would even argue that Gotham City is somewhat superior.
You don’t have Batman here. I’m going to the places where the police agencies are highly financed and where they want to do business with us. Will or DuPage County will be the location.
“It’s occurring all over, and that’s what worries me.” That is my only choice unless I pay a security guard to remain outside my door twenty-four hours a day.
Both ladies believe that local officials do not care enough about the security of small companies, and they are now thinking about relocating to places where there are adequate police officers.
Chicago has had a 20% increase in robberies since 2021, and neighborhood businesses have noticed the shift on their formerly calm and secure street.
The majority of the area’s company owners are women, according to the ladies, making the statistics even more significant.
Sugar Bliss on South Wabash Avenue in Chicago, was targeted by the lone male on at around 10.20am on Friday. He vandalized Ging’s countertop before brazenly taking a bag as she was having a meeting – but she grabbed it back before calling police
She sent an irate email to Mayor Lori Lightfoot criticizing the police department and that more be done to safeguard neighborhood businesses when police officers arrived 40 minutes later.
The Chicago Police Department warns companies three times in August alone about distraction crimes, armed robberies, and probable burglary situations.
Businesses are being urged by police to “be vigilant” to armed robberies and commercial burglaries and to “remain cool” when challenged by opportunistic offenders.
A guy with a black revolver attacked a 7/11 and a Dunkin Donuts, while police warned businesses to be on the lookout for a man posing as a City Hall carbon monoxide inspector.
Three law enforcement personnel were shot in a single week in June, raising concerns about a general increase in violence in Chicago.
Despite a 16 percent decline in gunshot events since last year, Chicago’s overall crime has increased by 35 percent.
In the same time this year, 952 gunshots were recorded, compared to 1,135 in 2021.
Robberies, criminal sexual assault, and theft-related offenses have all seen an increase in reports, while homicides have seen a decline.