Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson wants Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to reveal his "magic bullet" for combating the spate of murders here. Johnson has a point — what exactly is Trump's secret plan to end the gun violence?

The GOP candidate should answer this challenge.

Here's a simple plan: Chicago should "Al Capone" its killers.

When the notorious Chicago gangster finally went down in 1931, it wasn't because of his complicity in scores of murders or bootlegging that brought him outlandish wealth. The mob boss was taken down because he did not pay his taxes — and that brought in the federal government.

Those suspected in homicides are mostly hiding in plain sight, but police and prosecutors have to follow the law and can bring charges against them only when the authorities have solid evidence, not just hunches and hearsay. And they have to find witnesses who will not be intimidated — or killed.

Taking down Capone was an involved enterprise, and Chicago cannot afford the delay (and continued killing) to prepare complex cases against the dozens of likely murder suspects responsible for most of the senseless death and violence in the city.

And they don't have to. Drawing on the success of the Capone model and another more recent experience in Richmond, Calif., Chicago authorities can end much of the violence quickly.

Here's how: Identify, prosecute and protect.

First, the homicide and gang squads should go through their list of open or unprosecuted murder cases and determine the most dangerous, likely perpetrators.

In Richmond, two dozen individuals were responsible for more than 100 shootings one year and nearly 90 percent of the 47 homicides in that city.

In Chicago, the list of alleged killers will be longer, with more than 450 recorded homicides (and nearly 3,000 shootings) in 2016 so far.

Chicago's homicide clearance rate is abysmal, with only about a quarter of murders being solved in 2015. Murderers are killing with impunity. Some intimidate witnesses into silence by instilling fear that they will be the next victim.

Chicago should embrace "broken windows" policing for murder suspects.

After shooters are identified, police and prosecutors should use every legal means — from parole and probation searches and traffic warrants to back taxes and child support payments — to detain these suspected killers.

Petty crimes often go unpursued because they aren't worth the government's time. When the perpetrators are murder suspects, that should change. The faster these murder suspects are off the street, the lower the body count.

Finally, prosecutors should refuse to plea out other cases against anyone who has been flagged as a suspect in a killing. Throw the book at these defendants, asking for maximum sentencing and boosting the penalties for even petty offenses.

Civil libertarians will object to this tough approach. But they offer no solutions to the murder wave, with August expected to go down as Chicago's deadliest month since 1997. This crisis calls for immediate intervention, like any epidemic. Police and prosecutors are within the law to target offenders on valid charges (even if the authorities possess a secondary motive).

The sooner and longer these dangerous individuals are behind bars, the better.

It's time to "Capone" Chicago's killers. It can and should be done before another innocent life is lost to senseless gun violence.

Sean Kennedy is a visiting fellow at the Maryland Public Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, where he researches crime and criminal justice issues.