Chicago & Policing (new title)
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/ALeqM5i...ivfNgD909FTAG0
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.
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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/l...tory?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/l...,2104512.story
UHH actually one question
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MattC86
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.
There's considerably more to the story...
Originally posted by MattC:
Quote:
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.
Not wanting to start a fight but ....
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.
Impressive. Climbing though, is it not?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rex Brynen
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.
On M4s and Police Officers
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.
Interesting in that violence in Chicago is skyrocketing this summer....
and they have a lot of interaction with work done in Iraq.
http://www.mnfwest.usmc.mil/public/i...2572A90047CB50
http://chicagocopwatch.org/2009/02/m...s-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/fullpag...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.
Chicago Lawmakers: Bring in the National Guard
2 Chicago state reps: Bring in the National Guard, ChicagoBreakingNews.com, April 25, 2010.
Quote:
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.
Terror in Chicago's South Side
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:
Quote:
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/worl...ders-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.
An Insurgency Coming to a Place Near You?
Yes, Chicago, USA. A very pessimistic commentary by Zenpundit, which opens with:
Quote:
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
Quote:
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-...n-the-border/#
Is Chicago on the Road to Becoming an American Ciudad Juárez?
Is Chicago on the Road to Becoming an American Ciudad Juárez?
Entry Excerpt:
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Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.
Cartles come north, what will happen?
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.
Chicago "drinking from a firehose"
Quote:
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/201...ce-nine-killed
Spike in crime; morale slides: not good signs
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/democ..._police_force_
A couple of sentences illustrate CPD's problems:
Quote:
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=...ery=/appsuite/
This might have an impact too
From a tweet by Brookings, which might just explain Chicago's problem, or those parts where murders are all too regular:
Quote:
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/po...1US0001-070602
'American carnage': Is Trump's bleak vision of the States justified?
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:
Quote:
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 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:
Quote:
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/graph.../daily-chart-3
United States Gang Violence
By Patrick Burke at War is Boring:
Chicago’s Gang Wars Have Become Battles of Attrition
https://warisboring.com/chicagos-gan...-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.