Thread: CHICAGO SHOOTINGS UP 40 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2015, CPD SAYS

CHICAGO SHOOTINGS UP 40 PERCENT IN FIRST QUARTER OF 2015, CPD SAYS




According to CPD statistics, shootings rose by about 40 percent during the first three months of this year.


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By Jessica D'Onofrio
Updated 2 hrs 48 mins ago

CHICAGO (WLS) --
Shootings in Chicago rose by about 40 percent during the first three months of this year, according to new crime numbers released by the Chicago Police Department Wednesday.

Through Monday, there were 355 shootings compared with 253 through all of March of 2014. There were also 18 more murders in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same time period last year.

Most of the violence continued to affect large portions of the South and West sides, despite the cold and snowy winter.

But the numbers also show that so far in 2015, overall crime across the city dropped 5 percent compared to 2014. The number of overall arrests in Chicago is down 3 percent so far this year, CPD said.

Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said the department will keep building on community policing and putting more officers in high crime areas.

"It's gang conflicts and it's more guns. That's what I'm saying is most troubling in a city that takes more guns off the street than any city in the country. We've got a 40 percent increase so what do you think the results of more illegal guns being on the streets? It's gonna be more gun violence," he said. "It's the simplest concept and the methods that we've used to create those historic lows that we know occurred last year are the same methods that are getting those guns off the street. The system has got to support that."

McCarthy says he is satisfied with staffing levels and he believes he has the appropriate resources to fight crime here in the city.

The rate of illegal guns recovered by officers increased 22 percent from 2014. CPD said officers have recovered more than 1,500 illegal guns to date in 2015 and arrests for illegal gun possession increased 39 percent compared to last year.

Both candidates for mayor have talked about reducing crime in the city during their campaigns.

"We took officers from behind the desks and put them on the street, kids into summer job activities, a record model of gun control legislation. But the next battle is to now make sure that Springfield passes fundamental reforms where our criminal justice system is more focused on gun violence than narcotics," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.

"We're going to engage the Chicago Police Department in community policing, working with the neighborhood's residents to building trust and mutual respect and to gain their cooperation once again in reducing and preventing crime," Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia said.

Garcia has pledged to hire 1,000 more police officers if he wins the runoff election, which is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7.

http://abc7chicago.com/news/cpd-chic...f-2015/600391/

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

"We're going to engage the Chicago Police Department in community policing, working with the neighborhood's residents to building trust and mutual respect and to gain their cooperation once again in reducing and preventing crime," Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia said.

Garcia has pledged to hire 1,000 more police officers if he wins the runoff election, which is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7.

Yikes. Police can't solve long-term social problems. Police can certainly arrest more people and create more people who will be even more unemployable than they are now, but real change in behavior can only be effected by changing the reality of people's lives.

The reality for the poorest Americans is that they can't get entry level jobs. When people, especially young men, can't get work, that tells them that they don't have a future. When they don't have a future, they act in the present. When someone makes them angry, they often react violently.

If Chicago's next mayor wants to make an impact on violent crime, the best way to do that is via a partnership with other levels of government, to put people - especially young men - to work.
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