Happy 4th from Chicagoland: 101 People Shot, 14 Dead
More police, more technology, and yet, more shootings.
by Trey Sanchez
It was a violent Fourth of July weekend in Chicago, topping previous years’ totals for shootings, reports the Chicago Tribune. Between Friday afternoon and early Wednesday morning, 101 people were shot and 14 killed. Almost half of the shootings recorded happened in a span of just 12 hours to close out the long weekend.
The report notes the youngest victim was a 13-year-old boy who was severely wounded and the oldest victim was 60. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said his force arrested 58 people for drugs and gun charges and vowed on Tuesday afternoon “to keep residents and visitors safe in every neighborhood.” It had been a fairly peaceful weekend by Chicago standards up to that point, but in the hours following his announcement, the Tribune states, “[V]iolence erupted in nearly every police district south of North Avenue, according to data kept by the Tribune. At least 41 people were shot between 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and 3:30 a.m. Wednesday.”
Making matters worse is much of the violence was concentrated in districts with predictive crime technologies installed which apparently aren’t working, as the report explained:
The violence this year was largely confined to the South and West sides, including districts where the department has installed what it calls strategic support centers and predictive technology. Hundreds of officers on overtime were also deployed to those districts.
So, with hundreds of extra officers on the streets and predictive technology in place, criminals aren’t thwarted and police still don’t know where a crime is going to happen. But didn’t the Obama administration’s Department of Justice promise its policing overhaul would have dramatic effects on crime? We’re waiting.
The last time a long Fourth of July weekend occurred was 2013. For comparison, Chicago recorded 74 people shot with 12 dead by the end of the holiday weekend that year. But all in all, violence is down in the city this year with over 1,800 shootings compared to this time last year when the Tribune recorded 2,035. Congratulations?
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/happy-4th-chicagoland-101-people-shot-14-dead