Chicago Resident Pays Out of His Own Pocket for Private Security to Keep Neighborhood Safe

So this is what it has come to in Chicago.

CBS Chicago is reporting that one city resident, De Mudd, is now paying out of pocket for private security to patrol his Chicago neighborhood.

Mudd has started hiring off-duty Chicago cops to serve as security patrols at the 1100 block of North LaSalle. He made the decision to go this extraordinary route after finally reaching a breaking point with regard to the criminal activity taking place in his ���backyard.���

As he puts it, ���I���ve been watching my neighborhood deteriorate over the last couple of years.���

One of the police Mudd pays to serve as private security, Howard Greer, sees a great deal of benefit in what Mudd is doing, saying, ���It���s like a supplement, supplement to crime fighting, supplement to police department. I think it���s very effective.���

One problem with the approach, however, is that it is not cheap. According to Mudd, he���s paid about $5,000 just since the middle of August. However, he plans to stay with the effort, saying, ���I have the means. I���ve been very fortunate.���

Another, bigger problem is that, ultimately, it is no more than a very isolated solution to a serious city-wide problem. Mudd puts it this way: ���I have solved the problem for my neighborhood, but what I���ve done is I���ve just pushed the problem to another street corner in Chicago. That���s not the results that we, as citizens, should be looking for.���

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large