How Goes the War?

We guess we're winning, at least according to Frank Main:

• The intersection looks like countless others on the Northwest Side.

  Lots of trees, well-kept frame homes, a plant-filled traffic circle.

  But there’s also a street sign spray-painted with a blue pitchfork — the symbol of the Maniac Latin Disciples.

  It’s Barry and Spaulding. “B.S.” for short. The gang members who call it their turf, however, have a new name for the neighborhood surrounding B.S.

  “It’s like the Bermuda Triangle,” one high-ranking gang member told the Chicago Sun-Times. “As long as you fly around it, you’re OK. But the minute you drive in there, you get sucked in [by the police.]”

The article goes on to quote all sorts of anonymous and even "ranking gang members" who claim the heat is so bad on them that they can't even sell dope in the hood anymore. Boo-freaking-hoo.

Here's a truly odd quote though - we hear this far more among cops and the law abiding citizens than gang bangers. In fact, we can't ever remember this coming up among the criminal set:

• Maniac Latin Disciples members are now under gang orders to keep violence to a minimum because of the police crackdown, the ranking member said. Still, they’re continuing to arm themselves for self-defense, he said.

  “Everybody’s toting a gun,” he said. “I’d rather be judged by 12 than carried by six. You can’t disarm because you’re vulnerable.”

Go read it and venture an opinion here. The stats say crime is down, but the people talking to Frank claim everyone is running around armed to the teeth. Something doesn't ring true to our ears, but maybe we're just cynical.