* Slate.com…

“It used to be there were fewer gangs but they were more pronounced—it was not the smaller, what I call ‘splinter’ groups that have formed since,” said the Rev. Walter Johnson, who was the pastor of a church serving the now-demolished Cabrini Green neighborhood throughout the 1990s. “In recent history it’s been just all-out war amongst everybody. In some places, I’ve noted that on one block, three or four different factions are warring against each other.” […]

Today, experts say, the crews that have replaced gangs like Hoover’s are driven by goals less tangible than money, and the conflicts that erupt between them are more often provoked by interpersonal conflict than disputes over drug territory. “Back then, if there was violence, they were fighting over something—they were fighting over drug turf,” said Bradley. “The violence you’re seeing now, it’s almost attitude-driven.”

* And the Marshall Project…

The officers who patrol the Chicago’s 11th Police District face a daunting challenge. The district, which is centered around Garfield Park on the city’s West Side, has the highest murder rate in the city, and it’s rising fast. By late August the district already had more murders than in all of 2015, when it led the city with 48 homicides.

The officers of the 11th District stand out in another way. They are the youngest and least experienced police officers of any district in Chicago.

The average officer in the 11th joined the force 10 years ago; over a third of the district’s officers have less than five years on the force. Meanwhile, most veteran officers with patrol experience in the late 1990s — the last time Chicago’s murder rate was as high as today — work far from Garfield Park. Half a dozen miles to the north one of the city’s safest districts, Jefferson Park, has only three officers with under 10 years of experience. Over half the patrol officers are 20-year veterans.

And this is not confined to the 11th…

* Back to the article…

Though the rookie/veteran divide is present in many police departments, Chicago does have policies that may leave its force even more skewed. The Chicago Police Department’s union contract allows officers to regularly bid for open positions in other districts. Bids for patrol officer positions are decided primarily by comparing the seniority of the officers, and officers can transfer using a bid once every 12 months.

       

17 Comments - wordslinger - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 12:54 pm: Sad commentary on the Chicago media that Slate does a deep dive into the issue rather than just leaning on an outdated hierarchial “gangs” and “drugs” narrative as if the likes of Jeff Fort, Larry Hoover and Willie Lloyd are still calling the shots. By the way, remembers this nonsensical Sun-Times story? About “gang leaders” looking to avenge the police shootings of young black men (like that made sense). Is that “sniper still in place?” Should police still “limit interaction and visibility” (as if that were possible). http://chicago.suntimes.com/chicago/cpd-says-three-west-side-gangs-plotting-to-shoot-cops/ - Honeybear - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:09 pm: How do we even begin to address a crisis of “self”? - A Jack - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:11 pm: Perhaps veteran police should be offered some incentive to work in the high murder rate areas. The military pays combat pay if a soldier is serving in a hostile environment. - OkComputer - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:11 pm: The vicious cycle where the least capable are sent to the most needy areas to “pay their dues.” - OkComputer - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:13 pm: Or, is it that you don’t want 50-year olds trying to chase down young murderers? - Anon - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:13 pm: Yup. Very typical in unionized professions and organizations to have seniority determine who gets the “good” slots. You don’t need to look far to see all kinds of union proposals that promote seniority. It’s not necessarily bad, but can be if not checked. - OkComputer - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:14 pm: They’ve given all they can, but they’re still on the payroll. - weltschmerz - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:16 pm: At least the cops should be happy that the FOP protects them from being screwed by the politically connected. - Trumpy Poo - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:23 pm: Not sure if you had posted this or not, but the article linked below is outstanding piece of journalism. Provides a ground level view of how the young men involved in what we call “gangs” see themselves and their situation, while detailing the role that music plays in Chicago’s violence. It’s a must read. http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/October-2016/Chicago-Gangs/ - striketoo - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:26 pm: As long as the Black Legislative Caucus rejects raising a violation of the State’s unlawful use of a weapon law from a misdemeanor to a felony as requested by the mayor and police chief these thugs will walk when found with a gun. Much of the blood spilling on Chicago streets is on the hands of black lawmakers. Ironic, but true. - MOD - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:33 pm: The shift-bid challenges are certainly not uncommon in police departments and CPD is no exception. This is also a concern when comment threads on this subject on previous days talk about having civilians doing admin jobs and push cops back out to the street. There will always be a percentage of personnel that would make sense for, but it’s important to remember that it’s good to have field experience in the admin positions and no one can cope with doing unusually long stints on the street, it is simply too physically and emotionally taxing. Heck, that’s why the military limits the length and frequency of deployments and often rotates personnel to “mandatory” staff time. A good comment earlier is you don’t necessarily want your most senior - tenure or age - people in the trenches, the real question is how they’re being supported. This problem is known, so the real question is; what is being done to support these young, comparatively inexperienced officers? Support can be the selection of supervisors, greater shift flexibility to help with burnout, or surge staffing to avoid putting too much on their shoulders at once. In addition, it speaks to the need for reviewing or adding training that is most precinct-specific to make the transition easier as it’s likely the vast majority of the officers don’t know the area inside-out and are unlikely to live in it. - Lincoln Parker - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 1:34 pm: Very funny (as usual) take from The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/article/rahm-emanuel-concerned-gun-violence-could-spread-p-54016 - Ron Burgundy - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 2:14 pm: –The vicious cycle where the least capable are sent to the most needy areas to “pay their dues.”– Or the veterans choose to work where they believe they are more likely to come home at the end of a shift. Since they have the opportunity I can’t blame them one bit for taking it. Putting the least experienced officers in the highest crime areas probably makes it more likely that questionable shootings will occur given the lesser experience on the street and training. - NoGifts - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 2:41 pm: Mirrors the distribution of teacher qualifications in the worst schools vs. the best schools? I think both of these call for distributing the resources (skilled workers) skills more equitably among the neighborhoods. - Anonymous - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 3:30 pm: striketoo- “As long as the Black Legislative Caucus rejects raising a violation of the State’s unlawful use of a weapon law from a misdemeanor to a felony…” Generally any possession of a gun on your person or uncased outside your home or place of business is a felony at minimum in Illinois, even if you hold an FOID card. From the criminal code of 1963 and up until the 1980s, UUW was a misdemeanor, but Gov. George Ryan insisted that UUW be a felony and signed that into law about 1995(?). Black Caucus legislators were the only people to oppose Duty to Inform with criminal penalties in Brandon Phelps concealed carry bill based on the danger of police profiling and stopping citizens in black areas, so as a white guy I say God bless the Black Caucus. - Old Cop - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 4:11 pm: I don’t understand the hand wringing. At five years of service an Officer is considered seasoned and fully trained, and is able to take promotional exams and apply for specialized assignments. At ten years he is at his peak performing period. Younger officers don’t normally apply for transfers to quiet districts in any department. This bar graph is not as bad or unusual as it is being portrayed. - striketoo - Monday, Sep 26, 16 @ 11:13 pm: Anonymous wrote: “Generally any possession of a gun on your person or uncased outside your home or place of business is a felony at minimum in Illinois, even if you hold an FOID card. From the criminal code of 1963 and up until the 1980s, UUW was a misdemeanor, but Gov. George Ryan insisted that UUW be a felony and signed that into law about 1995(?).” Sorry, you are wrong. Here is the current law. (720 ILCS 5/24-1) (from Ch. 38, par. 24-1) Sec. 24-1. Unlawful use of weapons. (a) A person commits the offense of unlawful use of weapons when he knowingly: (4) Carries or possesses in any vehicle or concealed on or about his person except when on his land or in his own abode, legal dwelling, or fixed place of business, or on the land or in the legal dwelling of another person as an invitee with that person’s permission, any pistol, revolver, stun gun or taser or other firearm, except that this subsection (a) (4) does not apply to or affect transportation of weapons that meet one of the following conditions: (i) are broken down in a non-functioning state; or (ii) are not immediately accessible; or (iii) are unloaded and enclosed in a case, firearm carrying box, shipping box, or other container by a person who has been issued a currently valid Firearm Owner’s Identification Card; or (iv) are carried or possessed in accordance with the Firearm Concealed Carry Act by a person who has been issued a currently valid license under the Firearm Concealed Carry Act; (b) Sentence. A person convicted of a violation of subsection 24-1(a)(1) through (5), subsection 24-1(a)(10), subsection 24-1(a)(11), or subsection 24-1(a)(13) commits a Class A misdemeanor. The mayor has repeatedly called for this section to be toughened, but as I mention largely because of opposition by black legislators it has not been. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.