Ald. Sigcho-Lopez says a killing outside a downtown nightclub last weekend might have been averted if the city had shut it down following a mass shooting this summer.
A killing outside a downtown nightclub last weekend might have been averted if the city had shut it down afterThe Chicago Police Department and the city’s Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Department should have ordered Persona Lounge, 408 S. Wells St., to be closed after a fatal mass shooting outside the club July 1, Sigcho-Lopez says.
Sigcho-Lopez says he questions whether the police and city inspectors are using their power equitably in deciding which businesses linked to violence will be shut down. He says business owners and people who live near Persona have complained to his office about problems related to the club. "How is it that we determine these priorities?" Sigcho-Lopez says. "I think the lack of consistency is a problem."
Asked what the criteria are for the police to order a summary closure, a police spokesperson cites the language of the 2015 city ordinance that gives the police that authority, which says a club or other business can be closed for a violent offense such as a killing, discharge of a weapon, aggravated assault or criminal sexual assault that the police determine was connected to the operation of the establishment.