Maybe Windy City politicians should just stay away from microphones. If you hadn’t heard, Chicago had yet another rough weekend homicidally speaking. The latest tally: 8 dead, 46 injured. When it comes to blood spilled, The City of Big Shoulders makes Kandahar look like Kenosha. Tracking the stiffs – over 200 this year so far – has become a cottage industry. But don’t worry, Chicagoans, your betters have a solution: improved cop distribution . . .

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Monday morning when asked about the violent weekend, “We’re going to make sure that our deployment is accurate so that we can prevent these things from happening.”

Because if there’s one thing cops are known for, it’s preventing violence. So relax, people. Just like the economy, all is well. When asked when the city’s murder rate will decline, Supt. McCarthy reassured his armed self defense-deprived citizenry that, “The fact is it’s turning in the right direction.” Chicagoans will surely sleep better knowing that.

56 COMMENTS

  1. “Turning in the right direction.”. Wow. That’s a good one. I really hate the Chicago political machine. Perhaps they should look to WI, and see how much better things are doing there – but I am sure I will be underwhelmed again by the idiocy in Chicago.

    • the difference in violent crime between Chicago and Wisconsin has far more to do with the racial makeup of the respective areas than political party makeup. The 8 most violent neighborhoods in chicago are 97, 97, 97, 97, 97, 97, 96 and 94 percent black. When I went to Kohler and Shyboygan WI a week or so ago, were people leave cars unattended with the engine running, bikes unlocked and unattended, you could pump gas before you pay, and it was 0.05% and 0.87% black respectively. See my posts in the previous Chicago article for more details.

        • Pointing out racial differences is not racist. Making decisions based solely on race is racist.

        • @ Derek:

          We don’t know the veracity of that assertion, because no citations were provided.

          If you actually take at face value anything said in the comment section of an internet forum, I’ve got some real estate you might be interested in buying, too.

        • I’m not saying we should make life altering decisions based on matt’s heresay. I just saying that calling something racist/sexist/homophobic etc because you don’t like it or don’t agree with it and don’t have an argument to counter with is not only right out of Alinsky’s playbook, it’s pretty fcking lazy. Quite honestly, it annoys the hell out of me.

        • @jkp
          It is from CPD crime stats, here is a map
          http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Chicago_violent_crime_map_2006.png
          The neighborhoods top 3 tiers which are 3,000 – 4,000+ crimes per year per 100,000 residents are, Fuller Park, Washington Park, East Garfield Park, West Garfield Park, Englewood, West Englewood, and Greater Grand Crossing. I guess Austin isnt in the top 3 teirs, but it is rather notorious as being violent in Chicago and is right next to Garfield Park. Go to wikipedia to look up the racial makeup of those neighborhoods, they will match what I posted.

        • I forgot to include Woodlawn and Chatham which are in the top 3 tiers, which are 97% and 87% black respectively. There is certainly a correlation between violent crime and the racial make up of neighborhoods in Chicago. And as was demonstrated with Trayvon Martin, blacks being violent certainly isnt due to economic circumstances.

        • Look at murder stats, Dirk. Most murders in the US (hell, almost all crime period) is a black perpetrator and a black victim. That’s not racism, that’s just the facts.

        • I suspect that if you replace “black” with “poor,” you’ll get a much stronger correlation with crime.

          Focusing on a correlation of crime and race may blind you to the possible confounding factors.

        • no, see Trayvon Martin for a classic example, he wasnt poor and he had no problem trying to bash Zimmerman’s skull in to the ground.

      • I was referring to WI gun laws – which actually have taken a step in the right direction. A dentist, and good friend of mine, recently obtained his CCW there, as well as a Surefire silencer for his AR.

        The racial make up of Chicago’s problem areas are, as you pointed out, are pretty accurate.

        My issue is with Chicago forbidding John Q. Public to carry a firearm in what are clearly very violent neighborhoods.

      • This is a rare point agreement for me and Matt. However, I will offer the correct explanation for the high murder rate. The blue model of welfare dependency has destroyed the black family. The loss of family has led to a breakdown of civil society in the areas we refer to as the ghetto. The ghetto is ruled by warlords who work hand in hand with the Democratic political machine to maintain welfare dependency on the Democrat machine so the inhabitants will continue to vote (D) in all elections. This confers control of not just Chicago but Cook County and the State to the Democratic Party. If a few young black men die and numerous others go to jail in the process well that is a small price to pay for political control by the “right” people. Now that is racist.

        • “welfare dependency has destroyed the black family. ”
          How so? That is rather counter intuitive. If anything, you would think not having to work would allow them more time to spend with their children.

          “The ghetto is ruled by warlords who work hand in hand with the Democratic political machine ”
          Not really. The Dems work with the strip mall reverends or other community “leaders”, who in turn tell them who to vote for.

        • I see you choose to argue with those who support your position. Welfare dependency frees black women from the need of a man except to produce children. The State becomes the father and provider. In this society males have no role except as sperm donors. They then spend the rest of their time getting into trouble and shooting each other.

          In the meantime I suggest you read the following article from the Chicago Magazine…

          http://www.chicagomag.com/core/pagetools.php?url=%2FChicago-Magazine%2FJanuary-2012%2FGangs-and-Politicians-An-Unholy-Alliance%2F&mode=print

          It seems that I know more about Chicago than you do even though I left for good 45 years ago.

        • that whole ‘only men work’ thing ended a long time ago.

          And I said “community “leaders”” your article states “He’s a former gang leader and, for several decades, a community activist… The gang representatives were former chiefs who had walked away from day-to-day thug life…”
          Not current gang members, but rather community leaders. We really are just arguing symantecs here.

          If you want to read more of the same, check out the Ceasefire project which is set to get millions from the city.

          A troubling part of that article is that the photo at the top shows a white guy with a partial sleeve tattoo as the “gang member”

        • Just because we share an opinion doesnt mean I won’t argue with you, if I wanted to be in a circle jerk I would post an ad on craigslist.

        • These “former” gang leaders have moved into senior management. They have gone legitimate only in the sense that they have separated themselves from the day to day operations of the criminal enterprise. They still pull the stings.

        • One more thought Matt, Chicago is what anarchy, aka the state of nature, looks like. It is, as Thomas Hobbes said, a place where life is solitary, poor, brutish nasty and short. It is not the paradise described by Jean Jacque Rousseau.

  2. “Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said Monday morning when asked about the violent weekend, “We’re going to make sure that our deployment is accurate so that we can prevent these things from happening.”

    The amount of fail in his statements are just staggering. Unless they are going to start prosecuting for “thought crime”, the above statement is impossible. How in the F can you say that with a straight face? It is 100% impossible to “Predict” every crime that is going to happen. Who let this idiot in the door? I think there is a psych ward in Chicago missing a delusional patient…

    • You can predict the neighborhoods it will be in. Not the exact location, but certainly the general location.

        • And the cops would still only show up AFTER the gunshot… Cops are not for prevention, they are the clean up crew

        • KYgunner:

          If you have enough cops, they actually can sort of do prevention, but the area has to be saturated. I remember my first visit to NY, and walking around midtown Manhattan and for blocks and blocks I always had sight of at least one cop. Putting a lot of cops on the street, on foot, does lower crime – the problem is it is incredibly costly, and only NY’s high density, and reliance on tourism and taxes on rich people make it viable.

      • The CPD doesn’t know anything this month that they didn’t know last month. Their assignment of patrol areas has almost nothing to do with Chicago crime rates. Yes, I am well familiar with the NYC system of focus using police reports and software. Crime in Chicago involves a complex set of interactions going back generations. The ‘feeding trough’ comes first, solutions second. If there are bucks in it for RE developers, the municipal union business agents, or the Chamber of Commerce [which pays extra to get better policing downtown] then it ain’t gonna happen. Michelle Obama’s dad was a precinct captain for Daley. She got her first good job out of law school from Valerie Jarrett, at that time a deputy to the Mayor, later Director of Chicago Planning and Development. Her grandfather Robert Taylor had held a Board of Directors position with the same agency decades ago. The Poor Folks Housing industry makes money moving black people further south freeing land for upscale residential and office space. The cops union has no incentive whatever to see Chicago turn peaceful tomorrow, but a very large incentive to keep crime low in the central business district and middle-income non-black neighborhoods. The whole thing is a natural, though corrupt, system. It suits the people with power, money, or second-tier political connections. The rest is fairy tales.

        • CPD superintendent McCarthy was previously the NYPDs superintendent, he brought COMPSTAT (COMPSAT?) with him.

        • And he no doubt brought with him skill in encouraging patrolman to boost trivial arrests while avoiding arrests which suggest that Chicago crime is a growing problem? The only thing I can say for sure about McCarthy is that his stay in Chicago will give his pension earnings a big boost, and that he’ll make sure business district crime stays low. He and the mayor have good intentions, but they also have a complex agenda that continues to cost the Federal taxpayer plenty. It is much easier, I should admit, to increase gun ownership and carry in safe suburbs to keep them safe than to rapidly increase such ownership in the South Side of Chicago…because the business district, C of Commerce, doesn’t trust any non-rich people with guns and prefers the cost of the police union to the cost of liberty.

        • “he’ll make sure business district crime stays low”

          He hasnt so far, there have been tons of black mob attacks in the Loop. A couple days ago ~2,000 naked Critical Mass riders were assaulted by aprox 400-500 blacks, knocked off their bikes, and groped, from what ive read on secondcitycop.blogspot.com. Go to that blog and read about the “wildings”.

        • double checked the blog, the critical mass thing was unverified. but there have been tons of mob attacks.

  3. “The “Violence Reduction Overtime Initiative” starts Thursday,… To be considered for the extra work that comes with time-and-a-half pay, officers will need to meet be qualified by the number of tickets written and arrests made.”
    (Pay no attention to the lack of proofreading in the article)
    The cops can’t prevent crime at their regular pay rate, but at time-and-a-half they can? If there were ever a reason to NOT prevent crime, there it is.

    • It explains things perfectly, “…qualified by the number of tickets written…”, cops get paid more if the city gets paid more, and they say quotas don’t exist.

  4. This is great link with a lot of 411 on crime in Chicago.

    http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/il/chicago/crime/

    According to the FBI: This is the homocide rate in Chi-town

    1990: 851
    1991: 927
    1992: 943
    1993: 931
    1994: 929
    1995: 827
    1996: 789
    1997: 759
    1998: 704
    1999: 641
    2000: 628
    2001: 666
    2002: 647
    2003: 598
    2004: 448
    2005: 449
    2006: 467
    2007: 442
    2008: 510
    2009: 458
    2010: 449
    2011: 440

    So, I believe what the Top Cop is saying is, its June and we only have about 200 dead, if we do our job given half the year is over, we just need to keep the number at 200 or below and they continue the trend and he can stand up and say they only had 400 deaths this year and beat last years numbers.

    • Any ideas why the numbers are trending down after ’94? Because if the AWB actually did something, the entire foundation of my beliefs about guns has been eroded.

      Well… maybe not. but it is still interesting. What other sociopolitical events were happening around that time?

      • More hospitals or better emergency medical services? If they don’t die it isnt a homicide, it would be interesting to see violent crime rather than homicides, or at the very least include aggravated battery in with those stats.

        • Well my theories arent correct, found a graph from the mid 90’s to the mid 00’s for violent crime and they seem similar to the stats posted above. Anyone else have any ideas?

        • Matt: I’m sure you are aware that NYC is embroiled in a “don’t report a crime if you don’t have to” scandal. Every PD from London to San Francisco has evolved their skills at statistics-mangling. More interesting is that Chicago, since the mid-nineties, has been moving violent neighborhoods south, some even outside the Chicago city limits. This has reduced crime in the city. BHO made this sort of work the core of his career. Further, the very large banks were coerced to dump money into the red-lined wards beginning in 1994 straight through the crash, boosting available cash in the neighborhoods. City-Travelers and Chase-Chemical were two very large mergers held up by Congress and the regulators until the banks got the hint and began to dump the funding into the area, cleverly designing a structure that left small mortgage lenders on one side and securities-purchasers on the other…with the risk involved. Money. Moving people. Large improvements in the safety of the non-worst precincts. It all adds up.

      • Clinton and the GOP Congress handed out a LOT of money to hire local cops. The crack epidemic peaked and then ebbed.

        A better question would be – how does this decline stack up against the rates in NY, LA, etc.?

        • CPD staffing levels have been declining for at least the past 5 years, you’d think you’d see them start to spike.

        • That’s a good article. I will definitely buy the “community involvement decreases crime” schtick. The only unnecessary lib babble in there was the line
          “The other good news, for all but the National Rifle Association, is that gun carrying seems to be down considerably.” Well, no shit Sherlock. That’s because its neigh impossible to legally carry in Chicago unless you’re a politician/crook/both. That’s like saying that ownership of new manufacture machine guns is down this year.

  5. Chicago is a good example of If the gov. cant protect you, than you need to protect yourselfs. 2sd admen. rights. It looks like in Chicago that the bad guys are allowed to carry guns.

  6. The new slogan:Doing just fine. MSNBC will retire lean forward for Doing just fine as soon as they can.

  7. Criminals are always going to get guns. ” An Armed Society is a Polite Society” Where the stats are high for gun ownership among the law abiding citizens in the large portion of the population, there’s less crime. Why take guns from those who use them lawfully when they can save you from a thug punk who stole the gun and doesn’t care about going to jail?

    I’ve got my Ruger 9 ready to roll at any time, and if some loser was firing at his gang banger rivals or anyone, black or white, I’d plug him up to stop the massacre. Anyone who owns a gun responsibly would if it didn’t jeopardize anyone else but the offender’s life. Detroit, Chicago, this guy is full of it. The cops are saving their own asses first at this point in time. Crime is so bad they’re waiting for the thugs to take each other out. Sick of the race baiting. Some of it is just a fact of the population in an area, some is just the race baiting futher muckers who have no worth in life unless racism is alive and kicking, or killing.. Vultures like Sharpton love the racial hate.

  8. Inner city children of single parent homes is actually the best correlation.

    In other cities, like Arizona, Los Angeles, San Diego, etc you see similar numbers in Hispanic populations but less so in Black populations. Color isn’t the cause, but it’s obviously correlated because of population density.

  9. I went to college for a year in the southside of Chicago between 1974 to 1975. I have never been back, except to layover in the airport changing planes. The “ell” station on campus (35th street) at the time was the second most popular murder site in the city back then. The #1 murder site was the next station south, 7 blocks away at 42nd street. In the one year I was there, I got to see in person, the police set up outside a building in a shoot-out situation twice, have a student from my building beaten so badly that he was out of school for a whole semester, saw the coronor take away the body of a female student that had been kidnapped, raped, killed and stuffed in the trunk of a car on campus, and more….. I have no desire to ever go back to the “city of big shoulders”.

  10. Never been to Chicago and would like to visit (wife has family there), but until I can legally carry there….(how do they say?) “fugetaboutit”; not a dollar of mine will get spent in the state or city.

Comments are closed.