FBI, CPD beef up partnership to fight Chicago violence

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The FBI and Chicago Police Department are working together to fight crime in our city and they've made a video to illustrate the new campaign.

The FBI wants Chicago to know it's in the business of combating street crime.

"The Chicago Police Department is doing a very good job, but they're overwhelmed with the level of violence compared to the level of violence in other cities," FBI Chicago Special Agent-in-Charge Michael Anderson said.

On Wednesday, Anderson talked about the new video the agency created this past April to let the public know they're beefing up their longstanding partnership with the Chicago Police Department. They're hoping to stem the tide of violence by including a homicide task force along with adding gang squads that support CPD.

The FBI increased its resources by 20 percent and will concentrate its efforts on the city's west and south sides in neighborhoods. It's something Englewood resident and daycare owner Cashmere House welcomes.

"I'm all in favor of it. At the end of the day, it's always the innocent children being hurt," House said.

Chicago saw 762 murders and nearly 4-thousand were wounded by gun violence in the city last year. According to the video which featured community activist Andrew Holmes, neighborhood outreach is a part of the solution, too.

"It's just bridging the gap, putting more resources to help more individuals in the community," community activist Andrew Holmes said.

But not everyone agrees with the effort. Community activist Mark Carter says we can't police our way out of the violence.

"Not that police are not needed, but it's time for us to develop people and develop communities," Carter said.

It's still too early to tell if this latest effort will work, but supporters remain committed to stopping the violence.

"We are going back to basics and again looking at the trigger pullers and the shot callers, who is the most violence of the violent and those are the individuals we're going to target," Anderson said.