Chicago Reaches 500 Homicides (Detroit: city hall, neighborhood, live)

[jacobwilliam77]

The most since 2008.

Chicago reaches 500 homicides

"Chicago has logged its 500th homicide of 2012.

The last time the city reached the 500-homicide mark was in 2008, when the year ended with 512 killings. Last year, city records show Chicago had 435 homicides.

On Thursday, officials with the Chicago Police Department said the city was one homicide away from the 500 mark. Hours later, a 40-year-old man was fatally shot in the Austin neighborhood on the city’s West Side. Police say Nathaniel Jackson was found on the sidewalk outside a convenience store with a gunshot wound to the head late Thursday.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office says Jackson was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital early Friday.

Jackson’s death remains under investigation. No arrests have been made."

[gomexico]

And?

[emathias]

I'd be willing to accept an explanation along these lines, if it were true and backed by evidence:

"Part of our policing strategy has been to cut off gangs at the top, by taking down the kingpings. These actions has left temporary power vacuums that were battled over by lower-ranking gang members. We are making headway in working our way down the food chain of the gangs, but it can't happen overnight. Here is the evidence of this strategy, and here is where we believe gang murders will be once the strategy plays out, which we estimate will be sometime between [date x] and [date y]."

If that were the case, this abrupt rise would be acceptable. Unfortunately, if that's the reason it certainly hasn't been articulated by anyone on the force or in City Hall, so I think heads should roll and there should be an increase in officers on the street.

[Aleking]

who cares

[Chicago South Sider]

I wonder if Chicago's south and west side homicide rates are higher than Detroit's?

[Heyooooo]

Beats what it used to be.

[Tenzo]

The last time the city reached the 500-homicide mark was in 2008, when the year ended with 512 killings

Don't get your panties in a bunch, we still have three more days to beat the record.
Where do you live again?

[jacobwilliam77]

Originally Posted by Heyooooo

Beats what it used to be.

Chicago had over 900 homicides in 1992.

[chicagobear]

And I am sure all the shooters had FOID cards.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by emathias

If that were the case, this abrupt rise would be acceptable.

Abrupt rise? It was higher for a stretch earlier in the year, after which it fell back down to "normal" compared to recent years. Whether that earlier spike, which caused the total number for the year to be up from recent years, was due to the hotter summer, changes in gang dynamics, or random statistical variance is anyone's guess.

Originally Posted by Tenzo

Don't get your panties in a bunch, we still have three more days to beat the record.

1) 512 is not even remotely close to the record.
2) We're not going to get 13 homicides in three days in the winter.

Originally Posted by Chicago South Sider

I wonder if Chicago's south and west side homicide rates are higher than Detroit's?

Maybe, but it's pretty meaningless to compare parts of one city with the entirety of another city. To make it a fair comparison, you'd have to pull out the safer parts of Detroit from the data if you're going to do the same with Chicago.

Originally Posted by jacobwilliam77

Chicago had over 900 homicides in 1992.

Exactly. 500 homicides is not acceptable, nor is 100, for that matter, but let's keep some historical perspective. It's hardly an "OMG STOP THE PRESSES!" news story that Chicago had 500 homicides this year just because we had three (OMG, THREE!!) years in a row of "only" 400-something since the last time we had 500-something.

This is apparently a slow news day.