Page 7 - JULY 2016 Newsletter

speak of poverty and its relationship to drug use, gun crime, violence and homicide. We have done our own mini-study of sorts. Using official Chicago Police Department statistics, we collected data on narcotic arrests, gun arrests and homicides...and we have looked at these three issues with a direct relationship to the poorest areas of Chicago – areas with the highest levels of unemployment – and we have done this using a ward-by-ward breakdown.
Narcotic Arrests
In 2015, Chicago police officers made 21,156 narcotic arrests. The top 10 wards (28, 27, 24, 37, 16, 29, 17, 7, 6 and 21) were responsible for 13,156 or 62 percent, of all arrests.
(When we showed the audience a map of Chicago that depicted the unemployment rates from a 2015 study the Chicago Community Trust reported the top 20 wards where narcotic arrests took place were not only responsible for 89 percent or 18,849, of all narcotics arrests in the city of Chicago, they were areas reported to have the most unemployment.)
Gun Arrests
In 2015, Chicago police officers made 3,420 gun arrests. The top 10 Wards (28, 17, 6, 16, 24, 20, 34, 9, 8, 37 and 7 tied) were responsible for 1,964, or 58 percent, of all gun arrests.
(When we showed the audience another map of Chicago that depicted the unemployment rates from a 2015 study the Chicago Community Trust reported on the top 20 wards where narcotic arrests took place were not only responsible for 85 percent or 2,908, of all gun arrests in the city of Chicago, once again they occurred in areas that have the highest levels of unemployment.)
Homicides Occurrences
In 2015, Chicago recorded 456 homicides. The top 10 wards (28, 37, 8, 24, 6, 16, 34, 17, 20 and 9) had 243, or 53.2 percent, of homicides occur in their areas.
(And once again, we showed the audience another map of Chicago that depicted the unemployment rates from a 2015 study the Chicago Community Trust reported on the top 20 wards accounted for 84.6 percent, or 386, of all homicides in the city of Chicago, and it came to no surprise to the City Club audience that these homicides occurred in areas that are reported to have the highest levels of unemployment.)
As with any examination, the statistics we are reporting need to be examined further. These are areas of our city that are most in need, and most at risk.
Eight Years of Data
Not that long ago, a lot of attention was given to the fact that 404 people were shot by Chicago police during an eight-year period. Sev- eral outlets misrepresented these numbers and reported that everyone shot by CPD was unarmed, or that everyone died, neither of which was true. But what was missing from that same eight-year reporting was these statistics:
During these same eight years, Chicago police officers recovered 87,647 firearms (an average of 210 per week). The Chicago Police Department also arrested 37,408 people for possessing a firearm (an average of 89.9 per week). Finally, during these same eight years, 13,007 members of the Chicago Police Department (on average 31 per week) were assaulted or battered.
June 2016 Stats
The month of June ended with 72 reported homicides and 442 peo- ple shot, bringing our year-to-date totals to 334 and 1,986 respectively. In the city of Chicago, we have an Orlando (nightclub massacre) every
month, and no one seems to raise an eyebrow.
This year, it appears as if more people are concerned about the four
police-involved shootings that have occurred thus far, and less about the 1,986 shootings or the 334 homicides. Reports show that someone in Chicago is shot every 2.5 hours and murdered every 13.5 hours. None of these numbers is acceptable.
The World is Upside Down
More than two years ago, Salvadorian Political Cartoonist Ricardo Clement (pseudonym Alecus) captured similar changes taking place in his country; changes that we are experiencing. How have we moved from supporting anti-crime measures to embracing anti-police plat- forms?
“The world is upside down”
“Before the truce, after the truce”
“The world is upside down” How did things get so upside down? d
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