The mayor was being interviewed Thursday by New York Times columnist David Brooks before a live audience at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C.
When asked about the spike in gang murders, Mayor Emanuel said police are making progress now. But when officers began to arrest the gang leadership, another problem started to surface.
"It wasn't two gangs fighting each other, it was two groups inside a gang fighting each other, with leadership that was much younger than 30. They have a different perspective. We were, as a police department, as a city, slow to react to that," said Emanuel.
A new gang strategy includes officers knocking on members doors, warning them to stop the shootings and giving them information for job training and other social services.
