Speaking of Chicago: That community could use some organizing
Chicago accounts for nearly 30% of the increase in urban murders. And the city was responsible for 43.7 percent of the rise in urban murders in 2016.
Good thing Barry is on his way to organize that community.
April 21st, 2017 at 4:09 pm
If it gets much more “organized” there will be nothing left of Chicago but a smoldering crater.
April 21st, 2017 at 7:25 pm
Err … no. There were 762 murders in Chicago in 2016 and 15,696 nationally. 762 is not 30% of 15,696. It’s 4.85%.
But 762 murders is a lot nonetheless, percentages notwithstanding. That’s because Chicago elected a tutu-wearing bagman, not a leader, for Mayor. Rahm Emanuel was good as an errand boy for Wall Street, Obama, and the DNC, but he reached his level of incompetence as Mayor of Chicago.
April 21st, 2017 at 8:31 pm
Chicago is nearly 30% of the increase, not the total. That’s a big difference.
April 21st, 2017 at 8:44 pm
So we can significantly reduce the murder rate increase by selling Chicago to Canada?
April 21st, 2017 at 9:36 pm
D’oh. Fixed.
April 21st, 2017 at 10:52 pm
Interesting that Chicago Metro population (9.5m) is ~1% of the US population (320m), but accounts for almost 5% of the US murders. That’s not a statistic the media is throwing around.
April 21st, 2017 at 11:35 pm
It’s worse than that, Phenicks. It narrows down to about 1 million people in Chicago’s South and West Sides accounting for almost 90%, whether as perpetrators or victims, of Chicago’s murder total.
April 22nd, 2017 at 4:43 am
If it gets much more “organized” there will be nothing left of Chicago but a smoldering crater.
And the downside would be….what?
April 22nd, 2017 at 10:56 am
And the downside would be….what?
All those big cattle drives would have to go all the way to Indianapolis? Oh – wait, silly me, they don’t do that anymore.
Okay. I’m not seeing a downside. You could try to sell it to Canada before going to the smoldering crater option, but don’t be surprised if there are no takers.
April 22nd, 2017 at 4:41 pm
As someone who lived and worked as a LEO in Chicago, I have to reply to the “who cares?” comments here.
Most of the murders in Chicago are committed in about 10 of the 76 neighborhoods in the city, and about 5 of the 23 police districts. Almost none of the violence takes place north of Armitage Avenue. Most of the people in the affected neighborhoods and police districts are decent, honest people who are being victimized by gangs and drug dealers, and by the politicians who knowingly abet them.
The city contains over 2 million people, and the violence is being committed by fewer than 5 thousand of them.
Unfortunately, the Cook County State’s Attorney refuses to ask for high bonds on violent offenders, the Cook County Sheriff releases them with ankle bracelets and promptly loses them, and the Illinois Dept. of Corrections paroles them before their cots are warm.
Dump all you want on the politicians and the shitheads, but leave the victims alone, okay? They have enough problems.
April 23rd, 2017 at 9:15 am
@Old – The victims keep voting for the politicians that put them in this predicament. Maybe you can tell us why.
April 23rd, 2017 at 11:03 am
Easy reform would be to make federal welfare benefits portable in this one case, and to order Illinois & Chicago to keep paying benefits for 5 years to people who move out of the city/state. Force any state that gives in-state benefits to illegal immigrants to give the same benefits to migrants from high-crime zones.
April 23rd, 2017 at 12:28 pm
Orbitup:
In Chicago, the general election is meaningless. The real election is the Democratic primary. The victims don’t have much of a choice; the Republicans don’t even try.
That’s how Obama won his first election. When he was on the ticket for the Democratic primary for State Senator, he had five opponents. He went to court and challenged the signatures on their petitions, one after the other. By the time the primary rolled around, he was the only candidate.
April 24th, 2017 at 2:25 am
I lived in Baltimore during that hellhole’s crack epidemic, with gang warfare abetted by police corruption leading to more than one murder per day for several years. The thing is, gang warfare is usually not to the death, except when one gang is taking over the territory and criminal enterprises of another. In Baltimore it was locals getting exterminated by an incoming gang of more violent drug dealers. Execution of the opposition gang’s corner dealers in drive-by shootings was the method of gaining business by the new gang.
Is this the problem right now in Chicago, gang warfare? Or is it something else, like the ERs have stopped treating gunshot wounds as well as they used to?
April 24th, 2017 at 8:47 am
@Old 1811: Thank you for your service.
Unfortunately, while it used to be true that there were safe areas in Chicago, that’s no longer the case. The States Attorney, judges, City government and the appalling leadership of CPD have led to a situation where the entire city is unsafe. A relatively small group of violent criminals are terrorizing the city almost completely unchecked.
If the figures I have are correct CPD is thousands of officers short of their authorized strength of almost 12,000. NYPD, in comparison, with a larger population to serve but a smaller geographic area, has about 34,000 sworn officers.
Improving the problem would involve fixing lax and corrupt courts, imposing serious sentences for violent crimes, hiring a large number of CPD officers, and undoubtedly other measures so that the many good people can get to school, work and so on safely. There is no political will to do this, however.