28 Comments - Chris Widger - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:08 pm: Mayors own. - Blue Bayou - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:14 pm: Aldermen rent. - Arsenal - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:16 pm: Yes, and under-trained. Probably not *technically* under-resourced, but a lot of the wrong resources. God knows police screw up, but we need to examine the very real ways *we* fail them, and how that directly leads to the outcomes we don’t want. - Foie Gras - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:20 pm: hopefully Rahm pays the price at the ballot box in 2019 for paying overtime instead of hiring more police officers. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:22 pm: At a 29% clearance rate, solving murders in Chicago clearly is not a top priority, at all, for the powers-that-be in Chicago. I’m talking everyone: mayor and governor, City Council and GA, media, business, everyone. The fact is, the great majority of murder victims are young black males. If the great majority of murder victims were young white females, all the resources of this state would be directed toward not only clearance but prevention. Those are facts. Young black males are gravely at-risk in this society. It’s become convenient to just say “gangs” when the problem is far more complex than that. - BC - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:27 pm: We could use some historical perspective here (which is unfortunately missing from most Chicago murder stories the media do.) In the early 1990’s, Chicago frequently top 900 murders per year, yet the murder investigation clearance rate hovered around 60 percent. I’m not exactly sure what the size of the detective detail for CPD was then compared to now. I do know that CPD drastically expanded it ranks with the help of federal money under Bill Clinton’s COPS Ahead Program in the late 1990’s. But the number of officers has been rolled back in the years sense, so I suspect today’s police personnel number are similar to where they were in the early 90’s — when they cleared 60 percent of murders. In other words, the poor clearance rate today is likely attributed to the “no-snitch” culture and the general mistrust Chicagoan who live in high crime areas have for the police. I also think the decentralization and bifurcation of street gangs has complicated detective work. No matter the cause, this is a big problem. - huey - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:32 pm: Being understaffed, underequipped, and a political play thing might have a significant impact on an organization’s effectiveness. - DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:32 pm: Wordslinger I think you are implying a racism that is there but I think not in way you mean. If all these young black males were being shot by white males I believe there would be just as much of an up roar as if it was young white women being killed. In fact I bet there would be an up roar if it was all young black females being killed. So what does it say about the whole society black and white that black men are killed and it appears acceptable? - Juvenal - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:36 pm: Is there a pro-snitching policy in NYC? - Generation X - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:38 pm: –If the great majority of murder victims were young white females, all the resources of this state would be directed toward not only clearance but prevention. Those are facts.– This statement is pretty clearly opinion and not fact. Though you aren’t wrong in the multi leveled problem which needs to be addressed by all. - City Zen - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:41 pm: ==If the great majority of murder victims were young white females…== Was there some major demographic change on the south/west sides of Chicago that I’m not aware of? Perhaps a new Anthropologie opened in Englewood? - BIG R. Ph - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:41 pm: ===”Police in New York City, for example, report solving 80% of their murder cases last year”=== New York has Lenny Briscoe and the Law & Order crew - Chicagonk - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:42 pm: The reasons for the low clearance rate are numerous. 1) The courts have set a high bar for convictions (or even proceeding to trial). 2) Post-Burge CPD investigations are highly scrutinized and confessions are difficult to obtain. 3) The community doesn’t talk to cops. 4) Detectives do not currently collect evidence and instead rely on evidence techs, leading to delays in collection and mishandling of evidence. 5) Street justice is a lot faster than the courts. - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:44 pm: City Zen, I’m sure that being unaware of many things is what gets you through the day. But keep those murder jokes coming. - Morale - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 2:59 pm: And I think there is a HUGE morale problem nationwide amongst police officers. Understaffed, overworked, long shifts, denied days off, forced back to work on days off, fatigue, stress, family life is a wreck, … and then go out every day feeling like most elected officials don’t have your back - City Zen - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 3:05 pm: Word - I was also previously unaware of how much hiding space there was behind those murder victims until you occupied it. One less mystery, I suppose. You’re better off delivering your wry observations from that that soap box atop the moral high ground in your safe suburb. But to answer your observation directly, “if the great majority of murder victims were young white females”, there would indeed be a great uproar because it would be extremely abnormal behavior. Nancy Grace would be roaming city alleys in riot gear. - Dee4Three - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 3:07 pm: In reference to ChicagoNK comment… Do clearance rates refer to arrests or do they refer to convictions? If they refer to arrests (as I once heard) the high bar for convictions wouldn’t matter. Moreover, are higher levels of scrutiny for confessions, police mistrust, the use of evidence techs and the cases and the length of cases things unique to Chicago that would justify our poor rates? Seems like many other big cities and big court systems would have similar problems to the ones you’ve cited and many still manage better outcomes. - Agatha Christie - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 3:17 pm: === Detectives do not currently collect evidence and instead rely on evidence techs, leading to delays in collection and mishandling of evidence === Not sure when your last murder investigation was… But collecting evidence is not the job of a detective… Evidence technicians actually ensure chain of custody and it’s collected correctly to avoid contamination - wordslinger - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 3:17 pm: –“if the great majority of murder victims were young white females”, there would indeed be a great uproar because it would be extremely abnormal behavior.– Oh, that’s why, huh? Murder in Chicago today is still “abnormal” is it not, at a rate of 27.9 per 100,000? That’s half the rate of St. Louis, by the way. - Amalia - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 3:24 pm: Chicago has a smaller problem with murder than a number of cities in the US….St. Louis, the leader of the problem now. but you would not know that by the news. and because gangs have concentrated their violence in certain neighborhoods it seems like a larger problem per capita than it is. and because of the no snitching thing, there is a problem with clearance. gangs are not as prevalent in NYC as they are in Chicago. if you think the bar to meet for prosecution was high before, welcome to the world of the new State’s Attorney. there is not just a presumption of innocence. there is an excuse mentality that is far too pervasive that condones. - Gooner - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 3:53 pm: I’ve been around these issues for a while. Unfortunately, the “no snitch” policy is the big issue. We routinely see non-fatal shooting where “victim not cooperating.” We also see shootings, no cooperation, then somebody else is killed quickly afterwards. Chicago does not have a police problem as much as it has a gang problem. Unfortunately, gangs work for aldermen. As such, the aldermen like to talk but really refuse to take action. The wards with most gang crime need to decide what they want. Do they want gangs or not? If not they need to support challengers. - Chicagonk - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 4:41 pm: @Agatha Christie - Some departments around the country have moved to this model. Considering how stretched current ETs are and the lack of resources available at their disposable, it’s apparently something that they are looking into. - Roman - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 4:53 pm: == Street justice is a lot faster than the courts. == Yes. Which creates an ever-widening cycle of more murders. - Keyrock - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 4:59 pm: Chicago has fewer detectives than it used to, and each detective area covers a larger part of the city. Also, detectives are a smaller percentage of the police force than in NY. https://www.google.com/amp/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN10Z13A - Ron - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 7:24 pm: Gooner is spot on. Just one of countless reasons to reduce the size of the city council. - Bee - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 10:13 pm: Chicago had some of the nation’s strictest gun laws. Couldn’t get a conceal carry license. Now you can. Doesn’t affect anything because almost all of the murders (by guns) are done by illegal guns. - Bee - Tuesday, Jul 25, 17 @ 10:16 pm: Chicago gets such bad press for its murder upsurge. But on the whole, it is a safe city. A city this big, and there is less than two murders a day. The murders usually happen late at nite, between a narrow demographic and mostly in a handful of neighborhoods. I am confident in our Police force, and in time, this will improve. - Anonymous - Wednesday, Jul 26, 17 @ 8:31 am: I’m not besmirching all Chicago Cops, the problem lies with the brass developing a past history of closing out cases at any cost. Investigative skill appears to be lost in lieu of ot pay. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.