Chicago & Policing (new title)

[AdamG]

1) CHICAGO (AP) — Police planned to increase patrols and put SWAT officers and specialized units on the streets over the weekend, a show of force aimed at deterring violence like the three dozen shootings that left nine people dead last weekend.
"Weather permitting, we will have our helicopter up," said police spokeswoman Monique Bond, who said Thursday night was relatively quiet, with only four shootings, none fatal.
Meanwhile, religious leaders said they had persuaded some churches to open their doors in the afternoons and evenings to protect people from gunfire.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iDjMOLSNXltH3_3ACdJgHr0ivfNgD909FTAG0

2) Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis on Friday swore in two dozen district commanders as well as other officers assigned new positions in a sweeping shake-up of the department's ranks and called on them to lead by example.

*
Weis replaced the commanders of 21 of the city's 25 districts and made a number of other job changes. Four were shuffled to command other districts, seven were promoted and 10 others were demoted, moved laterally or will retire.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cops-sworn-in-webmar15,1,779845.story?track=rss


3) Mayor Richard Daley said Saturday Chicago police officers will he armed with high-powered assault rifles when they're on the streets fighting gangs and other criminals.

"Many times they're outgunned, to be very frank," Daley said at an event in the Englewood neighborhood. "When they come to a scene, someone has a semi fully-automatic weapon and you have a little pistol, uh, good luck."

The city's police officers carry pistols, and Daley suggested they will start carrying "M4 rifles."

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the department still is working out details about the M4 carbines.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-chicago-police-assault-rifles,0,2104512.story

[selil]

The entire violence agrument is being framed as an anti-gun argument instead of the crime issues of indigent criminal enterprise.

[AdamG]

The entire violence agrument is being framed as an anti-gun argument instead of the crime issues of indigent criminal enterprise.

Orwellian in it's scope, ain't it?

[MattC86]

Speaking as a very distinct minority within the SWJ - a pro-gun control liberal - who also resides in Chicago during the summer, I have to say (1) I like Da Mare, and (2) I don't think you can try to deal with the issue of gang violence without gun control.

Look at the parallel - we try to control weapons when we're doing stability ops in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else, don't we? At least to a degree. I agree that the problem isn't entirely guns, but it is at least part of the issue here. Good on Daley.

And finally, you know you live in an exciting place when the police spokeswoman calls a Thursday night with eight (nonfatal) shootings "a relatively quiet evening."

Regards,

Matt

[Ron Humphrey]

Look at the parallel - we try to control weapons when we're doing stability ops in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else, don't we? At least to a degree. I agree that the problem isn't entirely guns, but it is at least part of the issue here. Good on Daley.

And finally, you know you live in an exciting place when the police spokeswoman calls a Thursday night with eight (nonfatal) shootings "a relatively quiet evening."

Regards,

Matt

Don't most Iraqi's own weapons and we don't take the standard ones from them but mainly the big super nasty kinds?

At least I thought thats what I've heard and read.

[selil]

Speaking as a very distinct minority within the SWJ - a pro-gun control liberal - who also resides in Chicago during the summer, I have to say (1) I like Da Mare, and (2) I don't think you can try to deal with the issue of gang violence without gun control.

Look at the parallel - we try to control weapons when we're doing stability ops in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else, don't we? At least to a degree. I agree that the problem isn't entirely guns, but it is at least part of the issue here. Good on Daley.

And finally, you know you live in an exciting place when the police spokeswoman calls a Thursday night with eight (nonfatal) shootings "a relatively quiet evening."


Politics aside Matt, I have no problem with your position. I disagree based on a few simple facts.

1) The number of people dying due to violence may seem horrific but it is still way below epidemic levels. The actual violence numbers have not changed significantly just the reporting of them. That is politics.

2) The secondary change is that they reporting this as "school related" shootings though NONE of the actual shootings happened near or in a school.

This is a gang related fight and like any gang related violence weapons have less to do with the situation than the inter-gang politics.

Chicago already has some of the most severe weapons laws of any city in America. If gun-laws worked then Chicago and Washington DC should be some of the safest cities in America. The Chicago authorities though are simply using this minor outbreak of violence in a particular population for political expediency.

There is also some evidence that the city officials do not want to stop violence just transfer it from the gangs involved to sanctioned authority by the police who will have high power rifles. Because, violence by the police doesn't count I guess.

[Watcher In The Middle]

Originally posted by MattC:

Speaking as a very distinct minority within the SWJ - a pro-gun control liberal - who also resides in Chicago during the summer, I have to say (1) I like Da Mare, and (2) I don't think you can try to deal with the issue of gang violence without gun control.

Richie Daley ("Da Mare") is a leader, but this is all about gun control, and not just in Chicago. He's pushing for statewide restrictions to match Chicago's existing restrictions (which are literally confiscatory), and the rest of Illinois just isn't having it. So, now it's time to justify the argument.

Problem is, gun enforcement has been more of the problem. Know this for a fact, because I sat on a Federal GJ out of the Northern District of IL hearing cases, and guns are being transported into Chicago (literally by the hundreds), but very few of them are coming in from other areas in IL. Gangs were bringing them in from places down along the gulf coast (our cases), where the gangs were paying people $50 per semi auto that they purchase, and turn over to the gangs ("Ten gets you 5"). We were a small part of putting a stop to those pipelines - Federal cases, hard time. There's certainly more of it still going on.

Matt, a bigger part of the problem is Cook County government. Remember, the City of Chicago doesn't run the judicial system - it's Cook County or State of Illinois. There's where the real problems exist. The corruption and patronage is so bad in those areas, and it has so hamstrung law enforcement efforts in different areas, that I am just amazed that people just sit there and take it.

Sorry, but after getting a clear view from behind the curtain, this is all just hype.

[Schmedlap]

The term "gun control" has been muddled. Does it mean legislation aimed at preventing certain individuals from possessing certain types of firearms? Or does it mean the act of preventing certain individuals from possessing certain firearms? There is a huge difference. The former is a goal. The latter is an achievement.

Gun control legislation can only be viewed as a viable approach if we can reasonably expect such laws to have their intended effect, and if that intended effect serves some purpose. The intended effect is to disarm criminals. The purpose is to improve public safety. Gun control for its own sake was not the original purpose behind the movement. It is the purpose today.

The popular gun control activist movement seeks legislation that casts too wide of a net. This causes some serious problems. Banning the possession of firearms for all residents because of the foolishness of a small minority of residents is generally not appreciated by the law abiding folks. It is also highly doubtful that it has the intended effect of disarming the criminals. I live in DC and my firearms are locked in a case in my parent's basement 500 miles away because of our "gun control" laws. The laws compel me to disarm, but not the criminals. That is why there is still a huge problem in DC with gun-related (aka, armed criminal-related) crimes.

The single-minded focus on a legislative approach to abridge the rights of all gun owners only succeeds in polarizing the debate into gun owners' rights versus legislative activism. Most people do not commit gun crimes, so when their right to own a firearm is infringed upon because some activists had a bright idea, they predictably get defensive. The obvious target of their ire is the activist movement that seeks to disarm them. In other words, the gun control activists have created political opposition for no good reason, rather than working towards a shared goal of improving public safety. I see no way for these two factions to ever get to the point of working together to disarm criminals unless the activists make a good faith concession by dropping their attempts to infringe upon the rights of gun owners. So long as the gun control through legislation movement seeks to cast too wide of a net to catch a small group of deviants with a policy of highly dubious merit, the issue is destined to be a non-starter.

The gun control activists have lost focus on their reason for being. Gun control began as an idea for how to improve public safety. The inherent flaw of disarming entire locales rather than targeting criminals caused a backlash. Rather than recognize this obvious, glaring error and changing course, groupthink took hold of the movement. Now it is a fellowship of determined activists who seek a goal for its own sake, simply because their opponents are their political enemies. Will legislation aimed at banning ownership of firearms reduce crime? Probably not. But does anyone even care anymore? Probably not.

[AdamG]

(2) I don't think you can try to deal with the issue of gang violence without gun control.

Look at the parallel - we try to control weapons when we're doing stability ops in Iraq, Afghanistan, or anywhere else, don't we? At least to a degree. I agree that the problem isn't entirely guns, but it is at least part of the issue here. Good on Daley.

Swell idea, if only it worked...

Violent crime is worse than ever, say Pcs on the front line
By Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor
Last Updated: 2:15am BST 28/04/2008
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2008/04/27/nelect227.xml
Gun, knife and gang crime is the worst it has ever been, according to a survey of 1,200 front-line police officers.

Meanwhile, taking a page out of the Kavkaz.org (a Chechen War thing) playbook, Jeremiah Wright continues to sprinkle gasoline on embers in Chicago and elsewhere.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2008/04/25/abc-defends-soft-spoken-patriotic-jeremiah-wright

[tequila]

Kavkaz = Jeremiah Wright / Bill Moyers interview = Chicago gangs increasing crime?

Sorry, I'm too busy laughing my ass off.

Also, why does the average Chicago cop on the beat need an M4? Seriously, are the Gangster Disciples or the Latin Kings targeting Chicago cops in straight-up firefights? Or is Mayor Daley's second cousin now employed at Colt?

[zenpundit]

I too live in the Chicago area, though no longer in the city proper.

Daley, who never travels anywhere without a swarm of armed police detective-bodyguards, has always been in favor of gun confiscation since his days as a State's Attorney for Cook County. Chicago bans possession of handguns unless they were registered prior to 1982 and the rest of Illinois has stronger gun control laws than 43 other states.

What Chicago does not have - and what you will not see due to Daley machine alliances with organized crime, including street gangs - is gang control.

[MattC86]

Sorry it took so long to respond to the beating here. I'll just say this. The Chicago Tribune did a bit a few years ago called "Homicide: Scourge of a City," and claimed that since Daley's election, violent crime had dropped in Chicago by 50%. Murders under 500 a year for the first time in 40 years. Heck, I'm 22 and I can remember when they were well over 900. I won't chalk it up to gun control - you all clearly know more than I do. But he's done a good job with crime in general, and while he's pushing his anti-gun agenda during this rash of shootings (apparently the CPD doesn't count, though - the M4s are a bit of overkill), he's also pushing a lot of positive initiatives; after-school programs, increased arts and sports funding for public schools, etc.

And yeah, Ron, you're right - I think an AK or equivalent is still allowed. Not quite "gun control" as we know it:D Thanks for the heads-up.

Regards,

Matt

[Rex Brynen]

Murders under 500 a year for the first time in 40 years.

Sheesh, we have around 600 a year...

...for the entire country.

[Cavguy]

I lived in Germany for six years with some of the most restrictive gun laws on Earth. I seem to remember very few gun homicides or gun armed criminal gangs roaming the streets engaging in shootouts. I also remember that every gun incident made national news. Most crimes were done at knifepoint, IIRC.

When we first moved back here to Leavenworth, my wife (who is German) turned on the 10PM local newscast. Five violent murders and a drive-by on that day alone. I was even taken aback, having not been used to that level of violence in Germany.

After being able to walk the streets of almost every major northern European city and town at 2 AM relatively safely, I really wonder how much our devotion to relatively unregulated gun posession is making us safer. I wouldn't have walked the streets of Richmond, VA (my hometown) or most mid-large sized US cities at 2AM.

[Ken White]

Sheesh, we have around 600 a year...

...for the entire country.Even though handguns are virtually banned...

Did I not read a year or two ago that the RCMP had been accused IIRC of underreporting? No matter, let's say it's accurate. Just proves Canadians as a group are less violent than Americans. Good for you.

[selil]

Starting in the mid 1990s substantially less violent crime occurred as it literally dropped off the charts (the 1970s and 1980s were horrible). Some would say it was increased policing as Clinton claimed. Some would say that it was increased incarceration of criminals as Bush version 1 said. There are sociological possibilities found in Friedmans book touting increased abortion rates after Rowe v. Wade that decreased unwanted humans able to commit crime in the 90s.

In any regards my favorite is the advancement of "Make my Day" laws and increased civic mindedness and personal responsibility ethos.

The fact remains though that current crime is much less than it used to be. It is also a fact that locations with more restrictive gun control laws see more crime than areas with lax gun laws. There is correlation but not necessarily causation.

Chicago is not that bad off. Gary Indiana has about 1 murder for every 1000 people a year. A rate that equates to the homicide rate in Baghdad on a per capita basis. Gun laws are a red herring used by politicians to polarize the masses on both sides of the debate and frame the argument in a manner that makes it virtually unsolvable. If they wanted to fix the issue they would break up the gangs, destroy the nexus points in the organizations, and handle the situation like a counter insurgency. Unfortunately there is more money in maintaining the problem than fixing it.

[AdamG]

Hooray for Daley!

Murders in the city peaked first in 1974, with 970 murders when the city's population was over three million, resulting in a murder rate of around 29 per 100,000, and again in 1992, with 943 murders when the city had fewer than three million people, resulting in a murder rate of 34 per 100,000.

Following 1992, the murder count slowly decreased to 705 by 1999. In 2002, Chicago had fewer number of murders but a significantly higher murder rate than New York or Los Angeles, a situation which city police attributed to entrenched gang violence.

http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_EDITORIAL/04AR.pdf

And for 2006? Still coming at Highest Urban Murder Rate in the US, numba one wit' a bullet!
In Chicago, homicides through the first 11 months of the year were up 3.3 percent compared with the same period in 2005, reversing a four-year decline. A police spokeswoman said gang violence has been a contributing factor. (qu'elle surprise. Who we gonna take da gunz away frum, again?)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/27/national/main2304130.shtml

PS: Daley was elected mayor April 4, 1989, to complete the term of the late Harold Washington. He was re-elected in 1991, 1995 and 1999 by overwhelming margins.

[Jedburgh]

The Economist, 17 May 08: The Mystery of Violence (http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11376652)

....Chicago's muddled response frustrates David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He notes that in the 1990s Boston brought together federal, state and local agencies, community groups, religious leaders and others (including himself) to fight violence. A main feature of the scheme was to locate gang members and tell them that help and services were available, but that violence would be met with severe penalties. If someone was killed, not only would prosecutors pursue the killer, but police would nail other gang members for smaller crimes. This would create an economic disincentive to kill—shooting a rival would badly disrupt gang business. The programme was launched in 1996. Youth murders plummeted. Long-term studies show a two-thirds drop.

Chicago has its own version of this strategy in six police districts, but it has been all but ignored in the current cacophony. A federal initiative called Project Safe Neighbourhoods (http://www.psn.gov/) (PSN) pays for the programme; the federal district attorney directs it. Chicago's PSN (http://www.psnchicago.org/index2.html) includes tough gun policing, federal prosecutions and—most important, or so researchers found—meetings with former felons to deter them from returning to crime. Over PSN's first two years, the districts it targeted saw a 37% drop in quarterly homicide rates. The challenge now is to help PSN expand. Chicago's leaders must use many tools to fight violence. One is right under their noses.

[120mm]

I lived in Germany for six years with some of the most restrictive gun laws on Earth. I seem to remember very few gun homicides or gun armed criminal gangs roaming the streets engaging in shootouts. I also remember that every gun incident made national news. Most crimes were done at knifepoint, IIRC.

When we first moved back here to Leavenworth, my wife (who is German) turned on the 10PM local newscast. Five violent murders and a drive-by on that day alone. I was even taken aback, having not been used to that level of violence in Germany.

After being able to walk the streets of almost every major northern European city and town at 2 AM relatively safely, I really wonder how much our devotion to relatively unregulated gun posession is making us safer. I wouldn't have walked the streets of Richmond, VA (my hometown) or most mid-large sized US cities at 2AM.

Murder rates have little to do with guns, imo, and more to do with traditions of individual violence and "obedience to the law".

Give US police the power of the polizei, and a populace that will accept that power, and crime rates would plummet.

But if one wants safety, one could volunteer to be locked into a little cage.

[120mm]

Actually, M4s and other rifle caliber carbines are good police tools. They are more accurate than pistols and shotguns, and are handy, intuitive weapons to carry.

They don't over-penetrate any worse than other weapons, as well. Any round capable of killing a human being will over-penetrate, but in fact, pistol rounds over-penetrate worse than 5.56.

What people get hung up on is the way they "look". While an M94 Winchester carbine would "look nicer", while retaining roughly equivalent capabilities, the M4 carbine is more durable and reliable, and has spare part, training and accessory supply chains that are unsurpassed.

[Boondoggle]

and they have a lot of interaction with work done in Iraq.

http://www.mnfwest.usmc.mil/public/infolineMarines.nsf/ArticlesListingReadCurrent/82259C7DE79A3B89432572A90047CB50

http://chicagocopwatch.org/2009/02/mobile-strike-force-strategy-used-vs-insurgents-in-iraq-helps-chicago-cops-fight-crime/

I had a friend who deployed with the Marine bn that is local to Chicago around '04 and '05 south of Baghdad, and I remember a spate of articles on their deployment that associated their anti-gang work with how they would approach their work in Iraq. Here is a NY Times article on them and that deployment: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9903E3DC1431F935A35751C1A9629C8B 63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

So its doubling interesting that violence has soared this year. Obviously there are many, many factors that lead to that, but still interesting.

[Majormarginal]

There was a lot more death in the late 80's and early 90's. More of those shot are surviving. Some are shot intentionally to wound. There is a lot more violence directed towards the police.

[bourbon]

2 Chicago state reps: Bring in the National Guard (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/04/state-reps-want-to-fight-violence-with-national-guards-help.html), ChicagoBreakingNews.com, April 25, 2010.

Two state representatives called on Gov. Pat Quinn Sunday to deploy the Illinois National Guard to safeguard Chicago's streets.

Chicago Democrats John Fritchey and LaShawn Ford said they want Quinn, Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis to allow guardsmen to patrol streets and help quell violence. Weis said he did not support the idea because the military and police operate under different rules.
.....
So far this year, 113 people have been killed across Chicago, the same number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan combined in the same period, Fritchey said.
Is there an ongoing gang war in Chicago? I was under the impression that violent crime was down in the city, and had migrated to Northern Indiana.

[Schmedlap]

Second city cop (http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/) is one of my favorite blogs.

Regarding recent violent crime in Chicago, see the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cYO2y2Zj6I&feature=fvw) in this recent post (http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/search/label/scc%20responds).

[sniperpitbull]

2 Chicago state reps: Bring in the National Guard (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/04/state-reps-want-to-fight-violence-with-national-guards-help.html), ChicagoBreakingNews.com, April 25, 2010.

Is there an ongoing gang war in Chicago? I was under the impression that violent crime was down in the city, and had migrated to Northern Indiana.

The state reps are looking for publicity and job number one- getting rre-elected. But the Police need to take a no nonsense "Broken Windows" approach. Enforce the little things, jaywalking, code violations, or as our Captains used to say at Roll Call "make life unconfortable for them." If you run the kids off the corner at 8pm, you dont have to go back there at midnight after they've been drinking or drugging and have to deal with a shooting or stabbing. You dont have to be cruel, just enforce the law. You hit them with the little things and you avoid the big things. When they disregrd the summonses, you get default warrants and when you execute an arrest warrant when he is in a car or on the street, one never knows what you will find.

Plus Police commanders need to be held accountable. Are their men and women producing? Introduce Comstat and hold Superiors accountable. I can tell you both as a police officer and FBI Agent, supervisors were never held accountable, it was the officer's fault or the agent's fault but never the supervisors.

Police have to be constantly reminded that as Police officers, whenever ther is a confrontation resulting an court action, you never loose. The worst that can happen to you is a tie. Think about it. He has to interrupt his routine to be in court, for a police officer it's a payday and in some cases involving overtime, a lucrative payday. He has to hire a lawyer, you don't. So you hurt him with a loss of time and money.
"It's the little things in life that trip you up." as my old Sergeant used to say.

[AdamG]

While there's @ 500 PR NG on the streets "fighting crime" now, the Chicago suggestion is pure political grandstanding.

[Majormarginal]

Secondcitycop is great.

[Majormarginal]

The state reps are looking for publicity and job number one- getting rre-elected. But the Police need to take a no nonsense "Broken Windows" approach. Enforce the little things, jaywalking, code violations, or as our Captains used to say at Roll Call "make life unconfortable for them." If you run the kids off the corner at 8pm, you dont have to go back there at midnight after they've been drinking or drugging and have to deal with a shooting or stabbing. You dont have to be cruel, just enforce the law. You hit them with the little things and you avoid the big things. When they disregrd the summonses, you get default warrants and when you execute an arrest warrant when he is in a car or on the street, one never knows what you will find.

Plus Police commanders need to be held accountable. Are their men and women producing? Introduce Comstat and hold Superiors accountable. I can tell you both as a police officer and FBI Agent, supervisors were never held accountable, it was the officer's fault or the agent's fault but never the supervisors.

Police have to be constantly reminded that as Police officers, whenever ther is a confrontation resulting an court action, you never loose. The worst that can happen to you is a tie. Think about it. He has to interrupt his routine to be in court, for a police officer it's a payday and in some cases involving overtime, a lucrative payday. He has to hire a lawyer, you don't. So you hurt him with a loss of time and money.
"It's the little things in life that trip you up." as my old Sergeant used to say.

We have had a version of Compstat for years. We also have courts that consider enforcement of broken windows theory arrests to be Police harassment. Chicago Officers have been in Federal Court facing civil charges of violating civil rights. In my experiences the truth means nothing in Federal Court.

Our State's Attorney's office has to approve felony charges except in the cases of drug offenses. Felony charges are usually not approved. Even in cases of battery on a police officer unless there are serious injuries sustained by the officer felony charges will not be approved. Offenses committed outside of Cook County will often result in felony convictions that would not even go to felony court in Cook County.

An arrest situation can result in the death of an officer, time spent in Federal Court answering civil rights charges, injury, or prison for the officer. If you want to feel betrayed by your country be a cop in Federal Court.

The vast majority of shootings I have encountered involved players who would still be in prison if they served their full sentences after conviction.

We do not lack the physical and moral courage to do our jobs. The entire system is dysfunctional.

[AdamG]

8 people were killed and at least 44 more were shot this past weekend in war-stricken Afgha....oh wait, it was in Chicago*
http://www.wbbm780.com/Bloody-weekend--at-least-40-shot/7514229

* Props to Fark.com

[slapout9]

8 people were killed and at least 44 more were shot this past weekend in war-stricken Afgha....oh wait, it was in Chicago*
http://www.wbbm780.com/Bloody-weekend--at-least-40-shot/7514229

* Props to Fark.com

Rough place.

[AdamG]

Along the same lines :


Chester Mayor Wendell Butler, Jr. says “enough is enough” as he proclaimed a State Of Emergency on Saturday night. Tonight is day three of Chester city’s State of Emergency. It is set to run until Thursday morning.
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/day-3-of-chester%27s-state-of-emergency

See also
http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2010/06/22/news/doc4c202c049aac7545705322.txt

[AdamG]

Former Chicago police Superintendent on the death of a uniformed officer killed during a carjacking attempt: "I think what you're seeing is that the gangbangers have lost their fear of the police, and that's not a good thing"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-slain-officer-bike-ride-020100719,0,2059109.column

[davidbfpo]

Things must be bad if a UK paper is reporting on crime in Chicago, although I concede it maybe a spin-off from being close to the Obama's home:
Terrorised Chicago residents plead for police crackdown as gang war murders soar...Residents of the mainly black South Side want stop-and-search tactics brought back as gang murders plague President Barack Obama's home city.

Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9400468/Terrorised-Chicago-residents-plead-for-police-crackdown-as-gang-war-murders-soar.html

Curious that the residents reportedly support the return of 'stop & frisk" by specialist anti-gang units, whilst the city is embarking on alternative approaches that take time to have an impact.

[davidbfpo]

Yes, Chicago, USA. A very pessimistic commentary by Zenpundit, which opens with:
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has taken criticism for Chicago’s skyrocketing homicide rate which stands this year at a shocking 19.4 per 100,000 residents. This is roughly triple the murder rate in New York City, is worse than in perennially crime-ridden Oakland and is within shouting distance of war-torn Afghanistan and Mexico, which are fighting vicious insurgencies. Even for Chicago, the current level of street violence is unusually brazen.

Link:http://zenpundit.com/?p=14961

Cited by Zen
The city may be nearly 2,000 miles from Mexico, but the country’s drug cartels are so deeply embedded in Chicago that local and federal law enforcement are forced to operate as if they are “on the border,” according to Jack Riley, special agent in charge for the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Link:http://www.theblaze.com/stories/dea-boss-mexican-drug-cartels-are-so-deeply-embedded-in-chicago-we-have-to-operate-like-were-on-the-border/#

[AdamG]

Note the editorialized headlines' juxtaposition with the Police leaderships' hopeful proclamation. :rolleyes:

Chicago murders tie 2011 -- with 2 months to go

October 29, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- On Monday morning, the city of Chicago recorded the 435th murder of 2012. Most of murders are gang-related, police say, and they believe the strategies the city has in place are working and will lead to a decline.
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8864931

[Steve Blair]

Second City Cop is always a good read when it comes to Chicago and its crime woes.

Link:http://secondcitycop.blogspot.co.uk/

[SWJ Blog]

Is Chicago on the Road to Becoming an American Ciudad Juárez? (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/is-chicago-on-the-road-to-becoming-an-american-ciudad-ju%C3%A1rez)

Entry Excerpt:



--------
Read the full post (http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/is-chicago-on-the-road-to-becoming-an-american-ciudad-ju%C3%A1rez) and make any comments at the SWJ Blog (http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog).
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.

[AdamG]

What will America's cities look like, if the Cartels bring their war North of the border?


Members of Mexico’s most powerful cartel are selling a record amount of heroin and methamphetamine from Little Village, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. From there, the drugs are moving onto the streets of south and west Chicago, where they are sold in assembly-line fashion in mostly African American neighborhoods.

“Chicago, with 100,000 gang members to put the dope on the street, is a logistical winner for the Sinaloa cartel,” Jack Riley, the DEA’s special agent in charge of the Chicago field division, said after a tour through Little Village. “We have to operate now as if we’re on the Mexican border.”

It’s not just Chicago. Increasingly, as drug cartels have amassed more control and influence in Mexico, they have extended their reach deeper into the United States, establishing inroads across the Midwest and Southeast, according to American counternarcotics officials. An extensive distribution network supplies regions across the country, relying largely on regional hubs like this city, with ready markets off busy interstate highways.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-cities-become-hubs-of-mexican-drug-cartels/2012/11/03/989e21e8-1e2b-11e2-9cd5-b55c38388962_story.html

[davidbfpo]

AdamG's last post cites a WaPo story that is a version of another report published in October. Chicago is not the only city named as under threat and I'm unsure what will happen.

Typo - I meant cartels in the title, long day.

[JohnBertetto]

All of CPD's directives are publicly available on the 'net. Submitted for your review:

The CPD's Gang Violence Reduction Strategy -
http://directives.chicagopolice.org/directives/data/a7a57bf0-136d1d31-16513-6d1d-382b311ddf65fd3a.html?ownapi=1

The links analysis used is based on the research and theory of violent crime spreading proposed by Dr Andrew Papachristos -
http://papachristos.org/Publications_2_files/Coming_of_networked_crim.pdf

"I created a ““two-degree”” network. The ““1 rst degree”” entailed extracting all known associates with whom avictim had been arrested during this time period. The simple assumption is that if two individuals are arrested together, they are likely to have some ““association”” or friendship. Thus, a tie exists when two (or more) individuals have been arrested together. The ““two-degree”” network emerges by repeating the 1 rst step for all of the associates of those from the 1 rst-degree networks. This two-step process reveals the network structure in Figure 5.7, which began with 119 homicide victims and grew to a total number of 1,638 individuals——less than 2 percent of the total population in these neighborhoods."

[davidbfpo]

Chicago police face overwhelming gun crime as 45 people shot over weekend; Police officials point to need for stricter gun laws after city suffers bloody Easter weekend in which nine people were killed

Link:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/21/chicago-police-overwhelming-gun-violence-nine-killed

[davidbfpo]

This thread was closed in 2014, it then had 40 posts and 14k views. It has now been re-opened in view of recent developments.

[davidbfpo]

Policing in Chicago has come to the attention of The Economist with a long article on the current position and the start of reforms:http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2016/04/chicago-police-reforms?fsrc=scn/tw_ec/rahm_emanuel_announces_changes_to_chicagos_police_ force_

A couple of sentences illustrate CPD's problems:
The last six months has been one of the worst periods in the CPD’s history....The number of people shot in Chicago so far this year passed 1,000 this week, six to nine weeks earlier than in the previous four years, according the Chicago Tribune. Murders rose 64% in the period from January 1st to April 17th. If current trends continue, as seems likely, Chicago’s murder rate will reach around 570 by the end of the year, up from 468 last year and 416 in 2014....One of the reasons for the spike in shootings and murders is the low morale of CPD officers. Many feel that they are doing a tough, unpopular job.Thanks to a Chicago "lurker" for this graphic, which sadly says far more on the crime rate:http://heyjackass.com/#st_refDomain=mail2.virginmedia.com&st_refQuery=/appsuite/

[davidbfpo]

A lengthy Time article, with the oddity of CPD being seen as a 'laboratory' when reality was hellish:
Just a few months ago, the Chicago police department was regarded as America's laboratory of police science
Link:http://time.com/chicago-police-3/?xid=tcoshare

Curiously one cited witness features as a CPD officer who by mistake kills the wrong citizen.

[davidbfpo]

From a tweet by Brookings, which might just explain Chicago's problem, or those parts where murders are all too regular:
If you shoot someone in Chicago, you have a 91% chance of getting away with it.

There maybe more in this report, which offers solutions to youth crime there:http://www.brookings.edu/research/podcasts/2016/07/solutions-to-chicago-youth-violence-crisis?cid=00900015020089101US0001-070602

[AdamG]

Sunday, August 28, 2016 08:34AM



CHICAGO -- Seven people were killed and at least 38 more have been wounded in shootings across Chicago since Friday, police said.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/7-dead-38-wounded-in-chicago-weekend-shootings/1488222/

For current 2016 stats, see http://heyjackass.com/

To whit -
Year to Date
Shot & Killed: 435
Shot & Wounded: 2401
Total Shot: 2836
Total Homicides: 483

[Bill Moore]

I couldn't help myself after seeing the following article.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-chicago-murder-idUSKBN14G1MJ

Holiday weekend provides no respite from Chicago's violence


From Dec. 23 through Dec. 26, there were 44 shooting incidents in the city of 2.7 million and 12 people were killed, according to the Chicago Police Department. The number of murders in Chicago stands at 754 for the year.

I Googled Iraq's population, in 2013 it was 33.42 million, which divided by Chicago's population = 12.38 multiply that by the number murdered in Chicago (so far this year), and that equals to 9,334.5 murders in Iraq. Iraq may have that many people killed this year (maybe not), but they're at war.

Clearly, eight years of a Democratic President, and unknown years of a Democratic Mayor has done little for Chicago. I hope President elect is serious about addressing the problems in our inner cities. We spend more money on Egypt than we do addressing our problems at home.

[davidbfpo]

Added here even if the focus is not Chicago, but the wider issue of murder in the USA.

The BBC's report does mention Chicago:
In Chicago, murders rose sharply last year, with more than 760 last year compared with 473 the year before. Up to then, there had been a steady fall (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-chicago-homicides-data-since-1957-20160302-htmlstory.html) in the number of murders since a peak of the early 70s.Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38911708

The Economist has been number crunching the figures for fifty cities producing some good charts. An interesting point made:
Newark, just ten miles from New York City, has a murder rate nine times higher. And unlike New York, where homicides have fallen 85% from their peak in 1990, in Newark they have barely budged. Much of that difference can be explained by demography, deprivation and policing.Link:http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/02/daily-chart-3

[Azor]

By Patrick Burke at War is Boring:

Chicago’s Gang Wars Have Become Battles of Attrition
https://warisboring.com/chicagos-gang-wars-have-become-battles-of-attrition/

When you analyze the data for American American homicides (as perpetrators and victims), and compare it to the Northern Ireland conflict, you can see that the number of homicides per capita per year is roughly 3X for the former. African Americans effectively live in low-level war zones on average.

[davidbfpo]

Azor,

I see that the linked report also refers to Baltimore and today the BBC News website has a four minute video on one young black teenager dying there. It refers to one hundred homicides so far in 2017.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-39888640/dropped-out-bounced-back-gunned-down

Horrible to learn the violence in such cities is higher than many other overseas conflicts.

[davidbfpo]

This thread's title from 2008 was Gonna be a hot summer in Chicago and has remained active.

The title has been changed to Chicago & Policing; the city's problems have not changed and its not just the summer alas either when deaths occur.

[davidbfpo]

A detailed BBC article on CPD's use of technology, not 'big data' and with civilian analysts drafted in. It has several graphics.

This passage puzzles me, as surely this is the standard method of post-event investigation:
Using a piece of predictive software called HunchLab, they translate the data into "missions", which can involve anything from talking to local business owners in certain areas to watching certain surveillance feeds at certain times.
Link:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-40293666

[AdamG]

If you want statistics for Chicago, I suggest the following hyperlink (heyjackass.com/)

http://i.imgur.com/ZCu2WMP.png

[davidbfpo]

Adam G,

Good catch that website; even mixes facts you didn't know or want to.

The main thread on Chicago, which is open and has 35k views will have this smaller thread (5.2k views) merged in:Chicago & Policing (new title) (http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/showthread.php?t=5319&highlight=chicago)

[AdamG]

Good catch that website; even mixes facts you didn't know or want to.


People in the thick of it can be the best sources of unvarnished Truths.

[davidbfpo]

From what I think is an obscure website https://www.zerohedge.com an article 'One-Third Of The 2016 Spike In U.S. Homicides Came From Just 5 Chicago Neighborhoods', which strikes me as rather polemical, here is an example:
All the anti-cop self-righteousness in the world won’t save one victim from gang violence.
Link:https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-12-27/one-third-2016-spike-us-homicides-came-just-5-chicago-neighborhoods

The article refers to the original work from a more typical in appearance news story, which is full of statistics:https://www.dailywire.com/news/25092/one-third-us-homicide-spike-coming-just-few-jared-sichel

Yes the recommended local website watching the mayhem is still going:http://heyjackass.com/

[davidbfpo]

Within an article on NYPD's use of "stop & frisk" there is this passage:
As of December 27, New York City saw 286 homicides in 2017, down 12 percent from the previous year, itself a near-record low. That is a rate of about 3 per 100,000 population. By contrast, Chicago’s homicide rate for 2017 was about 24 per 100,000. The figure for Baltimore is about 56. There were more murder victims in Baltimore than in New York City in 2017, even though New York has nearly 14 times as many residents.
Link:http://www.nationalreview.com/article/455035/new-york-city-stop-and-frisk-crime-decline-conservatives-wrong

[davidbfpo]

A different viewpoint, this time with a focus on NYC, although Chicago does appear (maybe the thread needs a new title?). The sub-title being:
Public order creates a virtuous circle that enables neighborhoods to flourishThe author is not being "PC":
The fact that should concern us all, and that should be at the forefront of discussions of crime and policing, is that blacks die of homicide at six times the rate of whites and most Hispanics combined.Link:https://www.city-journal.org/html/critics-proactive-policing-are-wrong-15625.html

[slapout9]

What is PC is no one will discuss the fact that criminals killing each other is a form of crime control. And a very effective one.

[AdamG]

A high-ranking Chicago police officer died after he was shot Tuesday afternoon while assisting a tactical team responding to a robbery at the Thompson Center, sources said.
The officer, identified as a commander, was shot a little before 2 p.m., according to chief Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. The officer was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital and has died, sources said.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-off-duty-officer-shot-downtown-20180213-story.html

Place your bets on near-future events, folks. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPZ6eaL3S2E)

[AdamG]

Play-by-play of the radio traffic
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/chicago-police-commander-shot-to-death-while-responding-to-robbery/ar-BBJ5RLf?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

[AdamG]

Come for the body count. Stay for the irony of illegal immigration.
Bonus: source is WaPo (so double the irony points, Scrabble style).


The Dec. 6 arrests of Rivera and four others thwarted what police say would have been the sixth murder of a Brentwood High School student by MS-13 in less than two years.
But the incident also shook the school for another reason.
All but one of those arrested attended Brentwood, according to Suffolk County police. Three were unaccompanied minors who had been caught at the border and then placed in the community by a federal refugee program.
From New York to Virginia to Texas, schools in areas racked by MS-13 violence are now struggling with a sobering question. What to do when the gang isn’t just in your community, but in your classrooms?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/ms-13-is-‘taking-over-the-school’-one-teen-warned-before-she-was-killed/ar-BBK4n0L?ocid=spartandhp

[AdamG]

Just another day in Chicago, unless it's not. Anyone recognize this last name?


CHICAGO, Illinois (WABC) --
Police in Chicago say they have arrested a man who was carrying a loaded handgun and stolen NYPD body armor.
Authorities say officers nabbed Isaiah Malailua after police dogs found explosive residue in his bag at a train station.
The 21-year-old is from California. It is still unclear how he got the NYPD body armor.*
http://abc7ny.com/man-arrested-in-chicago-carrying-nypd-swat-gear-loaded-handgun/3261826/

* I'd suggest theft, but what do I know?

[AdamG]

It's that time of the year again.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/chicago-gun-violence-74-people-182103689.html


The city of Chicago had seen a large reduction in murders and shootings for the first four months of 2018, but as temperatures have increased, so has crime.

The Chicago Police Department recorded that at least 74 people were shot in the country's third-largest city, with 28 of those shootings occurring between Friday evening and Sunday morning. Two men in their 20s were shot outside an East Garfield Park building just hours after two other people were shot on the exact same block Sunday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. Police had previously been hopeful that gun violence was on a downward trend after seeing more than 1,400 total homicides between 2016 and 2017. The city's shooting victims are predominately on the city's south and west sides.

[davidbfpo]

I was incredulous at this BBC News headline, as my recollection was that Chicago's murder rate was still a big problem. The report refers to a public health approach to violence, with a few problems in getting finance from the political establishment. This approach was copied in Glasgow, Scotland and had a lot of publicity here, alas only in the last few years has anyone here paid attention.

The sub-title says it all:
Is it really possible to reduce violent crime by tackling it like an infectious disease?
Link:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-45575361

[davidbfpo]

I do sometimes spot items on policing in Chicago, which I have visited twice decades apart. So first a reminder that this blogsite is worth checking: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/ and this neighbourhood website:http://www.cwbchicago.com/

Then and with a wider LE application a recommendation to follow on Twitter @PeterMoskos

Thanks to a "lurker" I found these charts on the mismatch between public perceptions and recorded crime:https://www.visualcapitalist.com/crime-rate-perception-gap/

This then prompted another "lurker" to respond:
Crime rates continue to drop. The exceptions are cities such as Chicago and Baltimore where crime is increasing and spreading. Chicago is out of control.

Another responded:
Today, in America… That perception and belief is driven primarily by what is “right outside one‘s front door” as well as conveyed to them by what others say… Most especially media and politicians. Yes, UCR Part I statistics are definitely showing reduction… In all categories… Some exception to homicide and violent crime depending on the neighborhood, City, culture, month, quarter or year. But what damn difference do statistics make when a person‘s perception drives their belief.

Want to listen to one x-Chicago cop's perception and experience try this 2018 podcast (38 mins):https://qualitypolicing.com/qpp-interview-with-retired-cpd-lt-edward-richards/