I grew up in the suburbs and spent my share of time down town. No shock here; it's like ANY big city now; there are areas that are OWNED by the gangs and drug dealers. The cops WILL NOT go into these areas. If you're not a part of the group who "owns" the area, you drive through at your own risk - don't EVER try to walk through there; you will die. 
You could see the police cruisers parked at the Dunkin Donuts across the street from the "borders" - they would only go in AFTER the shooting stopped; WELL after; with LOTS of other cops. I literally saw young kids (I mean like 8 years old), on the ground, being beaten with bricks by a group of what looked like teenagers, in the park in front of Cabrini Green, in the middle of the day, with cop cars sitting ACROSS THE STREET. None of them went in.....The chief is very well compensated (draw your own conclusions on the MANY sources of his pay) to make sure that NOTHING changes there. NOBODY is going in there to clean it up. So he's actually smart to want ALL cities to look like his; great job security...
