.
A total of 67 people were shot over the weekend and 11 of them died. It was one of the deadliest weekends this year and pushed the number of homicides for the month to 84 with three more days to go, according to data collected by the Tribune.
The city hasn’t
seen a month with 80 or more homicides since October of 1996, which
logged 85. August of that year also saw 85 homicides and June of that
year saw 90.
Chicago has a lower homicide rate
than many other U.S. cities that are smaller in population. But this
year, the city has recorded more homicides and shooting victims than New
York City and Los Angeles combined.
Chicago has
recorded 487 homicides and more than 2,800 people shot so far this year,
compared to 491 homicides all of last year and 2,988 people shot,
according to Tribune and CPD data.
New York, with
more than three times the population of Chicago, has recorded 222
homicides and 760 shooting victims, according to NYPD crime statistics
through Aug. 21. In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million, 176 people
have been slain and 729 people shot, according to LAPD crime data
through Aug. 20.
The gun violence in Chicago has
been concentrated on the South and West sides that have lost population
over the years as other areas have grown.
The
Harrison District on the West Side, for example, has had almost 400
people shot this year after logging 350 all of last year. Englewood saw
330 people shot all of last year and has tallied close to 300 this year.
The
deadliest night of this past weekend was Friday into early Saturday,
when four people were killed, including Nykea Aldridge, 32, the cousin
of Chicago Bull Dwyane Wade. She was pushing her baby in a stroller in
the 6300 block of South Calumet Avenue when two men approached and began
shooting at a man walking near her.
At least 26
more people were shot, three of them fatally, between Saturday afternoon
and early Sunday morning. Three more people were killed and at least 18
others were wounded in shootings from 10 a.m. Sunday until early Monday
morning.
Chicago police officials have cited the
constant flow of illegal firearms through dangerous neighborhoods and an
intractable gang problem – with some disputes beginning on social media
platforms like Facebook and Twitter – as strong contributors to the
city’s violence.
In recent months, police
Superintendent Eddie Johnson has been pushing lawmakers in Springfield
to pass legislation requiring harsher sentences for criminals arrested
repeatedly for carrying illegal guns.
Earlier this
month, Johnson met with several police chiefs from across the country
to discuss the nation’s gun violence problem, noting that Chicago is
among about 40 U.S. cities that have experienced spikes in violence.
Cities
like Milwaukee and Washington, D.C – both much smaller than Chicago in
population – have seen homicide spikes that they haven’t experienced in
more than two decades. Milwaukee police Chief Edward Flynn told
reporters earlier this month how the city enjoyed six straight years of
record low homicide totals, only to see 2015 end with its highest total
in 25 years.
In Washington, D.C., homicides rose in 2015 for the first time in a decade, according to that city’s police chief, Cathy Lanier.
The
surge in violence comes at a tumultuous time for the Chicago Police
Department. It is still dealing with the aftermath of the court-ordered
release of video showing Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke shooting
Laquan McDonald 16 times, killing the teen as he walked away from police
with a knife in his hand.
The public furor from
the video’s release last November led Mayor Rahm Emanuel to fire Garry
McCarthy as the superintendent.
Murder charges were filed against Van
Dyke and the head of the police oversight agency resigned as the U.S.
Department of Justice began a wide-ranging civil rights investigation
into the department.
Earlier this year, the
Tribune reported a precipitous drop in morale among Chicago police
officers, based on interviews with officers."
................
No comments:
Post a Comment