A long and violent year in Chicago ended with a record number of shootings and the most homicides in two decades, police say. The Windy City saw 3,550 shooting incidents and 762 murders last year, a grim total that works out to an average of more than two murders and nearly 10 shootings every single day. Homicides in Chicago jumped to their highest level since 1996, when 796 were recorded, according to historical data from the Chicago Police Department. Last year's total represents a 57 percent increase over 2015, the biggest spike in murders in Chicago in 60 years, according to the Associated Press.
Shootings reached a record level since police began tracking them in 2011, rising nearly 50 percent over last year and nearly doubling since 2013. The number of shooting victims jumped to 4,331. The historic murder total drew a rebuke from President-elect Donald Trump, who said that federal law enforcement should be brought in to help with the crisis.
The drumbeat of deadly violence in Chicago brought stories of personal tragedy to national attention:Nykea Aldridge, a mother of four and the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade, was shot dead in August after being caught in crossfire while pushing her baby in a stroller on Chicago's South Side.In November, the 15-year-old grandson of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., was shot dead over a pair of gym shoes.Tragically, dozens of children were caught up in the mayhem. In July, a 7-year-old girl was shot at a vigil for a 14-year-old boy killed earlier on the same day. The wounded 7-year-old was driven to the hospital by a woman, Ashake Banks, whose 7-year-old daughter was fatally shot in 2012.
'Spiraling Out of Control'
ABC News contributor John Cohen, a law enforcement and homeland security expert whose roles have included counterterrorism coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security, described the violence in Chicago as "spiraling out of control." Beyond Chicago, he said, “a growing number of major cities are receiving a significant increase in robberies, homicides and aggravated assaults.”
He cited three factors he believes may be behind the uptick in violence:
1. An increase in gang activity and violent behavior by career criminals.
2. An increase in the availability of illegal guns, coupled with an increase in criminals' willingness to use them.
3. And an increase in the reluctance by law enforcement to engage in proactive, violence prevention policies. Such hesitancy, Cohen said, is because "officers of various ranks are worried they will respond to a split-second decision and end up being the next person blasted all over the media and will lose their job."
Officers respond to their calls for service and do what they can, Cohen said, but they are "hesitant to be proactive" and "target violent criminals." Criminals sense any hesitancy, Cohen said, and believe they are less likely to be stopped. Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson told the AP recently that officers have become more careful, partly because they're concerned about viral videos. Johnson added at a news conference last week that police officers are not the reason for the heightened violence in Chicago; he said over 8,000 guns were recovered in 2016 and all those encounters put cops at risk.
Empowered' Gang Members
There is no simple explanation for why the violence is so extreme, Johnson told reporters last week, but he pointed to the prevalence of gang activity. He also noted that the "the anti-police rhetoric" in Chicago and across the country "has emboldened and actually empowered these gang members to do what they do."
Gang members may believe community residents will take their side instead of the police's, he added.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/chicagos-control-violence-produces-762-homicides-2016/story?id=44402951
Shootings reached a record level since police began tracking them in 2011, rising nearly 50 percent over last year and nearly doubling since 2013. The number of shooting victims jumped to 4,331. The historic murder total drew a rebuke from President-elect Donald Trump, who said that federal law enforcement should be brought in to help with the crisis.
The drumbeat of deadly violence in Chicago brought stories of personal tragedy to national attention:Nykea Aldridge, a mother of four and the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade, was shot dead in August after being caught in crossfire while pushing her baby in a stroller on Chicago's South Side.In November, the 15-year-old grandson of U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., was shot dead over a pair of gym shoes.Tragically, dozens of children were caught up in the mayhem. In July, a 7-year-old girl was shot at a vigil for a 14-year-old boy killed earlier on the same day. The wounded 7-year-old was driven to the hospital by a woman, Ashake Banks, whose 7-year-old daughter was fatally shot in 2012.
'Spiraling Out of Control'
ABC News contributor John Cohen, a law enforcement and homeland security expert whose roles have included counterterrorism coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security, described the violence in Chicago as "spiraling out of control." Beyond Chicago, he said, “a growing number of major cities are receiving a significant increase in robberies, homicides and aggravated assaults.”
He cited three factors he believes may be behind the uptick in violence:
1. An increase in gang activity and violent behavior by career criminals.
2. An increase in the availability of illegal guns, coupled with an increase in criminals' willingness to use them.
3. And an increase in the reluctance by law enforcement to engage in proactive, violence prevention policies. Such hesitancy, Cohen said, is because "officers of various ranks are worried they will respond to a split-second decision and end up being the next person blasted all over the media and will lose their job."
Officers respond to their calls for service and do what they can, Cohen said, but they are "hesitant to be proactive" and "target violent criminals." Criminals sense any hesitancy, Cohen said, and believe they are less likely to be stopped. Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson told the AP recently that officers have become more careful, partly because they're concerned about viral videos. Johnson added at a news conference last week that police officers are not the reason for the heightened violence in Chicago; he said over 8,000 guns were recovered in 2016 and all those encounters put cops at risk.
Empowered' Gang Members
There is no simple explanation for why the violence is so extreme, Johnson told reporters last week, but he pointed to the prevalence of gang activity. He also noted that the "the anti-police rhetoric" in Chicago and across the country "has emboldened and actually empowered these gang members to do what they do."
Gang members may believe community residents will take their side instead of the police's, he added.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/chicagos-control-violence-produces-762-homicides-2016/story?id=44402951
