Crime in Chicago is getting increasingly personal for Terry Duffy.
(Bloomberg) — Crime in Chicago is getting increasingly personal for Terry Duffy.
The CME Group Inc. head told Chicago’s mayor to deal with rising violence and that was before his wife was recently carjacked.
“Three o’clock in the afternoon, my wife got carjacked right in the city of Chicago and it’s absolutely insane what’s going on here,” Duffy told the ICE House Podcast in an interview. “Ninety percent of the carjackings in Chicago are done by juveniles. So the juveniles go in and they come right back out literally an hour later.”
Duffy, 64, has experienced waves of crime before in Chicago. He grew up on the Southwest side of Chicago, went to high school in the city and has worked there for four decades. Now he oversees one of the biggest workforces in the region from a downtown skyscraper.
Duffy said fears over crime are preventing employees from returning to the workplace, a situation that he blames for holding back the city’s recovery from the pandemic, which also encouraged work from home.
He didn’t elaborate on the specifics of his wife’s carjacking, including when the incident occurred. CME declined to comment further.
Duffy said he challenged outgoing Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the violence and that her response — the homicide rate was falling — was inadequate.
“I said, ‘don’t go there. Please don’t go there.’ One is too many.”
Crime incidents jumped 41% last year and 33% since 2019, the year Lightfoot took office, though murders fell 16% last year. Her failure to deal with crime cost her reelection last month, which hasn’t happened to an incumbent since 1983.
The business community has been vocal about how crime is hurting the city. McDonald’s Corp. Chief Executive Officer Chris Kempczinski told the Economic Club of Chicago last year that it’s harder to attract talent. Ken Griffin, the billionaire founder of Citadel, quit the city for Miami and is encouraging many of his employees to follow.
Read more: Billionaire Griffin Slammed in Heated Chicago Mayoral Debate
Chicago voters now have to make a choice between two very different candidates after the first-round mayoral election, although both are Democrats.
Paul Vallas, the former head of Chicago Public Schools, gained 34% of the vote with a message that he’d be tough on crime. Brandon Johnson, running to the left, gained 20%. The runoff election is April 4.
Meanwhile, crime continues to hit close to home for those in finance. Last Thursday, a bank robber shot a security guard at a Fifth Third Bank across the street from the CME. The suspect, who’s now being hunted by the FBI, left the building with a bag of cash, with money flying out, and bullet holes by the door.
Duffy understands the problem isn’t specific to Chicago and that crime has increased across US cities. He’s also optimistic about the future.
“It was a tough time growing up in Chicago,” he told the ICE podcast. “So yes, we we’ve been on our back foot a few times… But I think we try to move forward and hopefully we can do it again.”
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