Former Chicago detective says one city's murder plunge offers Windy City crime blueprint

A former Chicago detective says the Windy City should look to a southern city where murders have plunged since the National Guard members moved in to find a way out of its crime crisis.

Homicides in Memphis, Tennessee, fell 43.7% during the first half of 2026 compared to the same period the prior year, according to data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association. President had signed an executive order in September 2025 authorizing the deployment of the National Guard, allowing troops to arrive in Memphis that fall.

On Monday night alone, nine people were shot across Chicago, including three who were killed. In one incident, two men were critically injured after gunfire rang out in the city's Near North Side neighborhood.

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"When we were in our living room, and we thought that another sporadic rainstorm hit Chicago, so we go outside in the windows, next thing you know, we just hear like lights everywhere," one person told FOX 32.

Retired Chicago Police Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy told Fox News Digital that Chicago officials aren't utilizing federal resources to clean up the city's crime problem amid a shortage of officers.

"Chicago has just 2,500 fewer police officers than it did just two or three years ago. You can't keep doing more with less. It's got to come down," Roy said. "As far as cooperation in preventative levels, which involves street-level policing, there's very little cooperation, if any, between Chicago and the federal authorities."

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The city's police officer shortage has been exacerbated by a November 2025 decision to pause classes at its training academy and slow hiring to roughly 50 recruits per month, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The cut in training and hiring was made to address a $1.2 billion budget shortfall that the city faced.

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Roy pointed to Memphis in particular as a "success story" about what happens when local and state governments effectively partner with the federal government, as the National Guard and federal law enforcement agencies surged into the city.

"Memphis is a success story on how this can work out. From the material I've looked at, they had cooperation from the governor on down, some reluctance at the city level, but they've done the right things the right way, and it results in the… it's produced the results," Roy said.

"The mere presence of police serves as a disincentive to commit crime. You want people to say, 'Hey, people are going out to do something, a robbery, a burglary or whatever. Man, it's hot out here. The police are everywhere. Let's forget about it. Let's do it a different time, a