Chicago on pace for fewest murders since 1965 (Phoenix: crime, attorney)

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Throughout the 90's homicide rates were considerably higher than today, yet people were ecstatic that crime was finally on the way down after decades of increases. News coverage was beaming with positive stories about the city "coming back" and talking about the new gentrification phenomenon. So it was totally ridiculous to see the panic that ensued in the media after Chicago went back over 500 homicides for a one year period, even though this rate is still historically low. And now that this uptick is isolated to one year, it seems even more ridiculous.

Chicago clearly still has some serious problems, but it's not really that different from any other American city in that respect. It's just the fact that New York and Los Angeles have improved so greatly that makes Chicago look a bit rough by comparison, but we don't have a crime rate that much worse than most large cities with large belts of poverty.

...but along the lines of glaringly obvious red flag. While there are certainly some nutcases that try to say everything about what is less than perfect with the currrent federal executive branch is an amplification of Chicago's problems the more sane analysis ought to say "if Chicago cannot manage to deal with the necessities of providing for all its citizens when so many young people are pouring into desirable northside area and the access to capital for local efforts is so good what does that say about how things will be when interests rates rise and the real estate cycles downward?".

The crime is not by itself a by product of just the lack of opportunity that remains a multi-decade drag on many neighborhoods but it certainly does not help attract investment or suggest any corner has been turned.

When polticians mindlessly blame race or other factors that cannot be changed it creates a situation where whatever setbacks there are become "not my problem" and in that atmosphere things won't get better. We need a mayor that is less interested in picking fights with reporters that ask him tough questions and more interested in taking ownership of the problems so that solutions are also within his (or her) control...

As jerkish as Bloomberg was in some of his policies he seemed a heckuva lot more committed to even his flakey ideas like limits on soft drink size than Rahm does about ANY sort of policy or proposal. The effort he puts into getting news outlets to highlight "how not that bad" things are with stories on MSNBC and similar friendly media fronts would help a whole lot more people if it was spent on things that will not win friends among the liberal elite like "stop & frisk" and expanded canine patrols...

[jdiddy]

My chet decoder ring isn't working this morning, but I believe he is saying that despite this being the lowest # of murders since 1965 in Chicago, this is bad news for Chicago. Let me see if I follow the logic:

-Rahm is not redistributing wealth from the North side to the South side enough. (a curious position for Chet)

-The murder rate may be correlated to the northside housing market. (because KINGRAHM)

-Crime is bad for investment (an enlightening thought)

-Something about rahm not being nice to reporters, which is mutually exclusive to taking ownership of problems. On the other hand, wasn't Chet one of those who complained about McCarthy's tactics when the murder rate spiked upwards, now that we're at a 48 year low its because Rahm hasn't taken ownership.

-Bloomberg's stupid soft drink ban shows he has commitment to policies. Rahm apparently has not passed any policies, stupid or intelligent. (can't figure out how this is related to the drop in murder rate??)

-Any media outlet reporting Chicago's lowest murder rate since 1965 is due to Rahm's efforts (likewise all the negative media when Chicago had a blip in a 2 decades long trend was due to Rahm not trying hard enough?)

-The immense efforts Rahm spent getting a few media outlets to report on the reality of Chicago's lowest murder rate since 1965, in line with a decades long trend in a reduced murder counts, are taking his time away from doing other things, like implementing stop and frisk.

-Stop and Frisk is not implemented in Chicago, not because of evidence it is unsuccessful and counter productive, but because Rahm is worried about losing the faith of the liberal elite (which shows a serious misunderstanding of politics here).

And by throwing all this incoherent sh*t on the wall, Chet hopes to derail another thread with positive news about Chicago from his lonely Grumpy Old Man Chair in the suburbs.

[rubbersoul89]

that was phenomenal.

the breakdown, not chet's post, obviously.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by jdiddy

My chet decoder ring isn't working this morning, but I believe he is saying that despite this being the lowest # of murders since 1965 in Chicago, this is bad news for Chicago. Let me see if I follow the logic:

-Rahm is not redistributing wealth from the North side to the South side enough. (a curious position for Chet)

-The murder rate may be correlated to the northside housing market. (because KINGRAHM)

-Crime is bad for investment (an enlightening thought)

-Something about rahm not being nice to reporters, which is mutually exclusive to taking ownership of problems. On the other hand, wasn't Chet one of those who complained about McCarthy's tactics when the murder rate spiked upwards, now that we're at a 48 year low its because Rahm hasn't taken ownership.

-Bloomberg's stupid soft drink ban shows he has commitment to policies. Rahm apparently has not passed any policies, stupid or intelligent. (can't figure out how this is related to the drop in murder rate??)

-Any media outlet reporting Chicago's lowest murder rate since 1965 is due to Rahm's efforts (likewise all the negative media when Chicago had a blip in a 2 decades long trend was due to Rahm not trying hard enough?)

-The immense efforts Rahm spent getting a few media outlets to report on the reality of Chicago's lowest murder rate since 1965, in line with a decades long trend in a reduced murder counts, are taking his time away from doing other things, like implementing stop and frisk.

-Stop and Frisk is not implemented in Chicago, not because of evidence it is unsuccessful and counter productive, but because Rahm is worried about losing the faith of the liberal elite (which shows a serious misunderstanding of politics here).

And by throwing all this incoherent sh*t on the wall, Chet hopes to derail another thread with positive news about Chicago from his lonely Grumpy Old Man Chair in the suburbs.

I have gotten good at decoding some of Chet's tangential posts. This one threw me as well. I nominate your post as "Post of the Year".

[chet everett]

If there is in fact tax revenue flowing into the cofers of the city and that revenue is needed to fund needed city functions like police that would not be "wealth redistribution" but a legitimate purpose of municpal government. The highly suspicious city budget, passed with the objections of few from mostly well off areas, suggests the majority of alderman remain too timid / stupid to speak out for the valid concerns of their consitituents -- Aldermen pass Emanuel's $7 billion budget, 45-5 - Chicago Tribune

The degree to which other cities have been able to postively effect their crime rate through both non-controversal means as well as those that have drawn the attention of civil rights activists is at least better than the dishonest papering-over of the problem that the imperious Emanuel administration engages in...


Of course the reduction of violence is a good thing but this is not due to any real thought out policy and the liklihood of the "bad guys" rapidly adapting to simple tactics like putting more feet on the street in "entertainment districts" leaves open the strong possibility that stats will soon spike up...

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The degree to which other cities have been able to postively effect their crime rate through both non-controversal means as well as those that have drawn the attention of civil rights activists is at least better than the dishonest papering-over of the problem that the imperious Emanuel administration engages in...

New York and Los Angeles have mainly reduced their crime rates through gentrification.

[chet everett]

There is probably some truth to that, and I don't doubt that hipper spots in LA or NY have helped give folks in formerly downtrodden areas opportunity, but the data on Chicago's increased jobs show those have gone to suburbanites & folks in already affluent parts of Chicago, thus if gentrification worked out there but not here the obvious question is what policies have made it different?


The guy that is getting flack in NYC for stop & frisk came from LA...

[jdiddy]

So translating chetspeak

This

if Chicago cannot manage to deal with the necessities of providing for all its citizens when so many young people are pouring into desirable northside area and the access to capital for local efforts is so good

means "higher more cops to harrass more black kids."

[chet everett]

The FOP and others have said that the numbers of cops are down. I personally know cops that have beats in Englewood and they flat out have said that when they are assigned to cruise in a unit by themself they are not as effective as when they are teamed with a partner -- they have to radio for a second / third car(s) and then spend time coordinating vs directly interacting with folks they believe up to no good.

CPD officiers are well trained in what sorts of probable cause they need to detain an individual and the era of harassing kids for the sport of it is thankfully long past. When there are plenty of cops of every race that helps to ensure that race does not enter into investigations and that is better for all parties.

There is always the potential for a bad cop to cross lines of harassment but that is typically handled by cops from IAD or investigators from IPRA... The effectiveness of those divisions / offices is largely a function of staffing -- when trying to run on a shoestring more complaints spend more time uninvestigated.

More cops with more skills in using the advanced IT systems that CPD continues to invest in will also help solve property crimes quicker and help with anti-crime efforts by allowing cops to use time on the street more effectively.

Only a fool thinks the city is safer with cutbacks in these important areas.

[jdiddy]

I'm not opposed to more cops, although per capita it seems the number of policemen in Chicago is in line with other major cities, so I'm skeptical of the alarmist claims I hear. Obviously, there's a limit to how long the city can utilize overtime as a strategy as opposed to just increasing the force a bit.

In the meantime, McCarthy's much derided policing strategy appears to be yielding results. So, that's good.