No excuse for political horse trading when it comes to crime-ridden West Loop encampment

A man was shot and wounded early Thursday near North Clinton Street and West Washington Boulevard in the West Loop. He later died. Ald. Bill Conway says the shooting was the result of a “drug deal gone bad.” (Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times)

City Hall and the Chicago Police Department have to make curbing crime a priority, whether it’s in the West Loop or West Garfield Park.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration seems to have lost sight of that, even after a 59-year-old man was shot and killed early Thursday near a crime-ridden tent encampment in the vicinity of Lake and Clinton streets.