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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Murders Up in US Cities; Manhunt on in Illinois Following Shooting of Police Officer. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired September 01, 2015 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[12:30:38] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: There has been an alarming rise in murders this year, in cities right across this country and we still have four months to go till the end of the year. But just like any other murder mystery, the biggest question is why?

New Orleans Police Department took our Martin Savidge along for a ride. And I do want to warn you if you're going to watch this. Some viewers might find some of the form -- the video had a little disturbing

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm hitching a ride with the NOPD, looking for trouble.

What do you think is in your precinct the worst crime area now?

In New Orleans, the blood-spattered bad old days are making a comeback. Here, two men are gunned down, murdered.

So we know that murder has gone up this year, why?

CHRIS GOODLEY, COMANDER NEW ORLEANS POLICE: If I had to answer I would probably be a wealthy man.

SAVIDGE: While violent crime overall has dipped. In the last year homicides in the big easy have jumped 22 percent from historic lows. But it's not just New Orleans.

In Atlanta, murders are up 12 percent over last year. Chicago is up 20 percent. Dallas up 23 percent. In the nation's capital, homicides are up 43 percent.

Goodly, an 18-year police veteran blames it on too many kids with too many guns with too little hope.

GOODLEY: We have a lot of, you know, youth that just don't know how to handle aggression.

SAVIDGE: But could something else be to blame? Some suggest police have become less aggressive and less visible in high crime areas in the aftermath of public outrage following the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray, noting cities near or where those incidents happen have had seen a huge jump in homicide rates from last year.

Ferguson's neighbor, St. Louis, is seeing homicides up nearly 58 percent and Baltimore saw murders there jump up 56 percent over last year.

Speaking in disguise to Brooke Baldwin, this Baltimore officer seems to admit cops have backed off, implying the public is getting what it asked for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the public really, really sees that they actually asked for a softer, less aggressive police department and we've given them that. And now they're realizing that their way of thinking does not work.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, PRESIDENT'S TASK FORCE ON 21ST CENTURY POLICY: You don't buy this theory that cops are backing off because of a public backlash?

SAVIDGE: No, I don't Cedric Alexander is a 38 year law force veteran and a member of President Obama's task force on 21st century policy

ALEXANDER: In terms of work slowdown in terms of not taking calls or only responding to 911 calls, that's not what's happening across this country.

SAVIDGE: He points to other big cities such as phoenix and Los Angeles where homicide rates are slightly down from a year ago.

HAROLD POLLACK, UNIV. OF CHICAGO CRIME LAB: I don't think anyone has a handle on it.

SAVIDGE: Those who research crime say homicide rates can be a lot like the stock market. There can be short term wild swings and you don't always know why.

POLLACK: I think there are many stories that people tell that are really not backed up by evidence right now.

SAVIDGE: Experts say we are still a lot safer than we were 15 to 20 years ago. As for the summer spike in homicides, it's a real murder mystery.

Martin Savidge, CNN, New Orleans

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BANFIELD: I want to bring in Jonathan Gilliam, a former FBI special agent and former police officer as well. John, with your background in policing, do you see anything in this set of numbers? Do you see a trend? Do you see a reason, for instance? Do you see the whole notion of police officers backing off as the reason maybe the murder rates are going up?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Honestly, what I see is that all around this country there is a growing sentiment of disrespect for authority, disrespect for self. And I think what's happening is you're seeing increased murders because people instead of walking away from a fight are more likely to pull out a gun and shoot each other.

They just don't have the same respect. When you translate that to their interaction with law enforcement...

BANFIELD: How would you think was from last year, though?

[12:35:00] GILLIAM: I think the mood in this country is changed in a rapid, rapid rate I think with the, you know, for one, the use of cellphone cameras. This has changed everything, because now you have to remember what people record isn't necessarily what the facts are. They can make their judgment call however they -- with their pre- disposed prejudices or judgments when they see the video and say "That is absolutely a cop murder for instance.

What they tend to ignore in most of these cases is that if somebody did not resist, if they had respect for authority before the situation even started, none of these murders between cops would have happened. But I think if you take that same mentality away from law enforcement interaction. And you just look at the communities at large. I think people are just becoming more emboldened and less and less of a community.

BANFIELD: I want to read something at the Milwaukee police chief said and this comes to us courtesy of the New York Times, his name is Edward Flynn He said, sort of to what you're saying, Jonathan, "Maintaining ones status and credibility and honor, if you will, within that peer community is literally a matter of life and death. And that's coupled with a very harsh realty which is the mental calculation of those who live in that Strata that is it more dangerous to get caught without their gun than to get caught with a gun."

Does that speak volumes to you and the community that you're hearing from?

GILLIAM: It does. And the community that I'm talking about is overall just in the United States. And, you know, that probably is geared more towards the inner city in the way the inner city reacts but I think the reality is all across this country there is this growing sentiment of me, notice me, let me do what I want, don't confront me because I'm going to confront you, and I think we've just lost our sense of who we are we're Americans and I know this sounds like a hard leap for a lot of academics or people who want to, you know, work for a president's council of this or that. But that's the reality is that we just have a breakdown in the way we associate with each other overall.

And law enforcement in general, they go to an academy and then they get trained by the community that they're in. And I think that is a very, very dangerous thing for law enforcement to allow officers just to be trained by the community.

BANFIELD: So, you know, just as you and I were speaking I've been handed this and I want to do breaking news here if I can and speaks to a lot of what we're discussing. And you'll have to bear with me because I'm only getting pieces of information here, but there is a northwest suburb of Chicago called Fox Lake. And this is what we're now seeing from our affiliate WBBM that a police officer has been shot near Chicago, there is a manhunt that is currently underway, this is northwest it's the suburb of Chicago about 56 miles outside of the city of Chicago. It is a crowded place, certainly during the summer, people using the lake, using Fox River, it's a big boating community.

And what we're being told right now is that it is apparently the response to an officer being shot that there is this intense manhunt currently underway in Illinois. Here's what I can't tell you, if that officer is alive. I cannot tell you if the officer has survived this shooting. But we can tell you this has become a very serious story in this neighborhood in this area, and affluent area, upper middle-class suburb, not known for crime.

We're going to take a quick break, gather some more details. Back right after this.

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[12:42:21] BANFIELD: The sheriff's department is giving a news conference about three men who are armed and on the loose after apparently shooting a police officer.

Let's listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... one male black, I don't have a further description. At this point we're -- this is two-pronged investigation. So we have our -- we're looking into the apprehension of the three subjects at large. We're utilizing multiple resources for that.

We have numerous canines on the ground checking for scents, we have numerous helicopters and the aircraft's in the air. We have a large number of officers on foot conducting searches of the area.

In connection with that we're working the investigation of the officer who was injured so the major crime task force, Lake County Major Crime Task Force has been called in for that and is heading up that investigation.

We'll have more information available as it progresses, possibly another press conference later this afternoon or evening.

And this time we're asking all area residents to remain inside, report any suspicious activity any suspicious people by dialing 911 as we still have three offenders at large, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any condition on the officer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was the time? I missed the very beginning? (OFF-MIKE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: All right, so we've just tapped into that news conference live as it happens through our affiliate WBBM.

And what you heard effectively in Fox Lake, Illinois, there are three suspects who are on the loose after shooting a police officer.

I want to see if I can hear anything further. No. They're just too far away from the mics unfortunately but I will recap for you what that officer just told us. A Fox Lake police officer has been shot and we were able to hear through this news conference that that officer was injured. He did not say that that officer died as a result of the shooting but we do know three suspects are on the loose and what you might have missed right off the top was that the description of these suspects are that they are two white males and one black male.

Apparently they are on the loose in this community of Fox Lake. It is a suburb of Chicago it is an affluent suburb of Chicago known for its lake and river and boating activities. Very busy, apparently, and crowded in the summertime.

And now all residents who are there, presumably visitors as well, being asked by the police department there to stay inside with these three on the loose and to report anything suspicious.

I can also tell you via our affiliate reporting that they are armed our affiliate saying that these three on the lose apparently are armed.

[12:45:05] The police officer who gave that news conference also said that they have numerous canines, the dog sniffing obviously operators who are out looking for these three suspects. They have helicopters in the air as well.

And you can see the helicopter shot from our affiliate WBBM of what might be an ad hoc command center at this point. I'm not sure if that's the location where the shooting happened but it is more than likely a serious possibility that might be where the initial incident happened.

They're also saying that there is a large number of aircraft. So helicopters, aircraft and canines that have been deployed. And then for good measure a large number of officers on foot who are trying to track these three suspects.

And if you're just joining us this happened at Fox Lake a suburb of Chicago, it's to the northwest of Chicago just little over 50 miles away from the city center, an officer was shot, an officer injured. And three suspects are now on the loose and police there are trying to track them, considered to be dangerous and an affiliate reporting considering they are armed.

Residents and people in that community being asked to shelter in place and call if they see anything suspicious.

Quick break, more information after the break.

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BANFIELD: And we're bringing you breaking news out of Illinois, close to Chicago. A bedroom community, a suburb of Chicago is right now effectively under a shelter in place to order.

[12:50:07] Residents of the Fox Lake community are being asked by police to stay inside as they conduct a massive manhunt looking for three male suspects after a police officer was shot in this community.

We are being told that the officer is injured but we're not being told the extent of the officer's injuries at this time. We are being told that the police are on a manhunt for two white males and one black male. Those are the suspects, police are reporting, that those suspects are armed.

Clearly they are dangerous as is evidenced by the request a few moments ago, the police asking residents of that community to stay inside and call 911 if they see anything suspicious. All of this following a shooting in this community of a Fox Lake police officer.

I can tell you that the Lake County Sheriff's department was holding that very quick news conference just to tell us that this massive manhunt is underway.

The pictures you're seeing on your screen right now are very clear. The evidence that was given by that news conference is that there are numerous police officers on the ground conducting the search and investigation.

On top of that, there were apparently numerous helicopters and aircraft in the sky that also are assisting in this manhunt and that there are number of canine units that have been deployed as well.

I want to bring in Jonathan Gilliam and Deb Feyerick, who's been working her sources as well.

I know you had a chance to do some preliminary phone calls and that everybody obviously is extraordinarily busy but have you found anything out.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What we do know is we know that the major crime task force is involved in this. The sheriff is meeting with other agencies like ETF, local police, they may bring in the U.S. Marshals.

It's not clear from what we're hearing as to whether these three individuals are on foot or whether they're in a car.

Right now, what police and authorities will do is they'll trying to see what witnesses are available to testify, how these three men were traveling and how this all went down. The fact that you have three people, the fact they were armed and that it appears that this officer and the fact that it appears this officer was targeted in some way. All of that is part of the approach that investigators will use, will incorporate as they search for these three individuals.

BANFIELD: All right, let me break for a moment and I'm sorry if I'll repeat anything you just said because at the time you were talking i was talking and trying to get breaking information.

Here's what I can tell you that the fox police officer -- the Fox Lake police officer radioed and that he was in pursuit of three suspects, two white males and one black male. Apparently this was a foot pursuit that he radioed in and then communications with that Fox police officer were lost.

When the communications went down, backup was dispatched and when backup arrived, the backup officers found this officer injured from a gunshot wound.

That is the very latest in terms of the facts on the ground and you can see the helicopters in the air now in this intense manhunt for three male suspects, two white males, one black male which is the communications obviously that dispatch got from this officer who was - you know, in hot pursuit on foot of these three suspect before communications were lost.

We are not sure of the condition of this officer. We do know that the officer was injured, not killed. But we don't know how severe the injuries are or that officer is able to communicate with fellow officers as to any information regarding the direction these suspects took off in or what else they might know to help them in their pursuit.

Jonathan Gilliam, just take me into the circumstances that they find themselves in right now and give me some insight from someone who has done this.

GILLIAM: It's -- I mean right now is a very intense situation where you're not just looking for one, this is a problem. You have three individuals who could have split up and now its three different directions that they can be going.

So, I think right now, the most important thing is if people are at home watching this, they need to stay very aware of what's coming anywhere in their neighborhood and what's around there, and notify authorities immediately. And also make sure that your children are not outside.

BANFIELD: Let me jump in for a moment quickly.

On the phone with me right now is Sergeant Christopher Cavelli with the Lake County Sheriff's Department.

I know Sergeant Cavelli this is a very preliminary time. But is there any information you can give us in terms of what you're facing on the ground there?

CHRISTOPHER CAVELLI, LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS SHERIFF'S OFFICE: It is very preliminary. What I can tell you this morning at approximately 7:52 A.M., a Fox Lake officer indicated he was out on foot with three suspicious suspects described as two male whites and one male black.

Shortly thereafter the officer indicated that he was in foot pursuit before communication was lost with the officer.

[12:55:04] When backup officers arrived they located the officer injured and he was shot. The three individuals still remain at large at this time. There's an extensive manhunt underway to apprehend these individuals. We're utilizing air support.

Many, many law enforcement officers on the ground and many, many canine units.

And on the other prong is the investigation into exactly what happened. So, we -- a lot going on right now, the three suspects do remain at large. We asked fellow residents in the Fox Lake Illinois area to report any suspicious activity that they happened to see, whether they think it's something minor or major and to keep an eye out for these three individuals.

BANFIELD: And sir, I know you are limited in what you can say and I completely understand that I just need to ask you if the officer is okay. Do you have any information on his condition?

CAVELLI: I have no information on the officer's condition.

BANFIELD: I understand. I appreciate your time and I know we have to let you go because you are in a very difficult situation right now with your department and we want to let you get back to work.

In the meantime, we're going to take a quick break and we're going to gather more information and be right back after this.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We are beginning now with breaking news. A police officer has been shot in Fox Lake, Illinois. That is a suburb that is just north of Chicago, there's currently a manhunt on right now for three suspects who are on the loose.

We don't know the condition of the police officers. Authorities are not releasing that at that point. But what we have just learned from the Lake County Sheriff's Department is that this happened just a few minutes before 8:00 A.M. Central Time, so 9:00 A.M. East Coast time.

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