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As far as shootings go, Chicago experienced more than New York and Los Angeles combined during the 90s. It wasn't uncommon for Chicago to reach over 13,000-14,000 shooting victims in a year at that time. For example in 1991, there were 922 killings (as reported immediately following the end of the year; the official number eventually rose to 928) and for every homicide there were 16 other shootings. 922*16=14,752 shootings for the year. In the first 6 months of 1992, 7,285 people were wounded by gunfire in the city of Chicago compared to 5,000+ in New York city and 8,600+ in Los Angeles county(1991 or 1992?) for the ENTIRE year. Just based off the sheer amount of people being shot, Chicago definitely takes the cake for the top 3 big cities. For the smaller cities, it's between Detroit, New Orleans and Washington DC.
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Chicago Tribune
922 Homicides Made 1991 Year To Forget
January 01, 1992|By William Recktenwald.
The year was less than 90 minutes old when David Banks became the first homicide victim of 1991.
Banks, 27, was riding home from work on the King Drive bus in the wee hours of Jan. 1. Suddenly, another man on board pulled out a handgun and began firing indiscriminately.
By the time the bus driver pulled over to the curb near 26th Street, Banks lay dead on the floor, and a second man was wounded. The gunman fled and has not been apprehended.
The slaying of Banks touched off what was to become one of the bloodiest years in Chicago`s history.
Early Tuesday morning, a 17-year-old Englewood youth became the city`s 920th homicide victim when someone opened fire at him in the 4800 block of South Vincennes Avenue.
A bullet struck the youth in the back of the head as he ran from the gunman, and he died instantly, according to Wentworth Violent Crimes Sgt. Dennis Murphy.
``A witness said she heard the two argue, `You sold me some soap for dope,``` Detective Daisey Martin said. ``I guess that he sold some Ivory soap as ready rock (crack cocaine), and the customer came back and killed him.``
That`s the sort of year it was on the streets of Chicago, one senseless killing after another. And for every homicide, there were 16 other shootings, 10 stabbings and 19 attacks with clubs or bats, police records show.
With gang members and drug dealers finding it easier than ever to get their hands on guns-including highly sophisticated automatic models-few expect 1992 to be less violent.
The year that passed into history at midnight Tuesday achieved some notorious distinctions:
262 people under the age of 21 were killed in Chicago in 1991, more than ever before.
Killings with Uzi submachine guns and other automatic weapons became chillingly commonplace.
A record number of gang-related killings occurred, most of them linked to drug trafficking.
August, when 121 people were slain, was the most violent single month in the city`s history.
The homicide rate based on population reached an all-time high-33 murders for every 100,000 residents.
And for only the second time, the number of killings exceeded 900. There were 970 homicides in 1974, but the city had 400,000 more residents then, so the murder rate then was less than it was last year.
In many ways, the year`s first killing was typical of most that would follow. Banks was felled by bullets in a public place. He was young. He was male. He was black.
Seventy percent of last year`s homicides, or 641, were committed with guns. That`s a 64 percent increase in just the past four years. In 1988, LeRoy Martin`s first year as superintendent of police, there were 660 homicides in Chicago, 392 of them committed with firearms.
The 17-year-old`s slaying included another frequent element of murder in Chicago: drugs.
As trafficking in cocaine, including inexpensive but highly addictive crack, has become more widespread, the number of killings has climbed, and the average age of both the slayers and the slain has dropped significantly.
``Years ago, we would see gang-related killings over gang colors and things like that,`` said Robert Dart, commander of the Police Department`s gang crimes unit. ``But today it`s drugs, and who gets to sell drugs on what corner.``
The year`s youngest shooting victim was Rashee Black, 10, slain at twilight on June 22 as she sat on her front porch in the Gresham community. Four gang members, one of them 16, have been charged in the killing.
Two 11-year-olds and at least five 13-year-olds were arrested for killing people with guns. One of the 13-year-olds was charged in connection with the shooting death of 11-year-old Jeremiah Miggins in Englewood.
Jeremiah, the son of a preacher, was killed while he was playing in his yard after school, allegedly by neighborhood gang members who were intending to shoot members of a rival gang.
Another of the 13-year-olds was charged, along with a 20-year-old, in the slaying of a Chicago Housing Authority police officer, Jimmie Haynes.
Haynes, a 40-year-old Army veteran and father of two, was gunned down as he walked through a parking lot of the Robert Taylor Homes on Aug. 15. The case is still pending.
According to the FBI, Chicago was just one of many U.S. cities that saw the number of murders climb last year. Overall, the eight largest cities reported a 2 percent increase in killings during the first half of 1991, FBI records show.
Chicago ended the year with an 8 percent increase over 1990.
The number of youthful victims was one of the year`s most disturbing features. The 262 victims younger than 21 represented an increase of 86 percent over 1988.
But marked increases were also seen among older victims, with 86 people over the age of 50 being slain, a 20 percent jump over 1990. There were 277 victims in the 31- to 50-year-old age group, a 22 percent increase from 1990. Men remained the most likely victims, 86 percent; and although African-Americans represent about 39 percent of the population, 77 percent of the murder victims were black.
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Chicago Tribune
No Letup In Murder Rate
355 Slayings In Chicago Is 12% Increase
May 27, 1992|By William Recktenwald.
Murder in Chicago is again rising at a record pace. As the Memorial Day weekend signaled the beginning of what could be a violent summer, already there have been 355 homicides, a jump of 12 percent over the same period last year.
The increase in slayings comes even as the number of shootings has shown only a 3 percent increase, and police officers speculate the shooting and slaying figures reflect the more serious injuries caused by the sophisticated weaponry now on the streets.
FOR THE RECORD - Additional material published May 28, 1992:
Corrections and clarifications.
A May 27 Page 1 story misstated the percentage increase in Chicago murders so far this year. The 355 murders through Monday represents an increase of 8 percent, not 12 percent, over the 328 in the same period last year. The Tribune regrets the error.
``These weapons do a lot more damage. We are seeing more and more multiple gunshots,`` said Pullman Area Detective Cmdr. Robert Beavers.
``Before, you might have seen one shot or two, but now with these automatic weapons on the streets, it is a hail of shots fired. People get hit five or six times and bystanders get hit, too.``
Through Monday, 72 slayings were reported in May, while there were 64 homicides in all of May 1991. The 77 murders recorded in January 1992 were the most for any January, and a record number of April killings was reached last month when 83 died.
In 1991 there were 924 murders, the second most in the city`s history;
970 people were slain in 1974, when the population of Chicago was nearly half a million greater than it is today.
In the first four months of 1992, the latest period that such figures were available, some 4,251 people have been shot and 2,877 stabbed. That equates to a shooting every 41 minutes and a stabbing every hour in the city, records show.
In addition, 4,778 people were subjected to a serious assault with weapons such as bats or clubs in the same period, according to police records. Several crime areas show decreases, however. Armed robbery, which hit the highest level ever last year, is down 3.5 percent from the corresponding period in 1991, and reports of strong-arm robberies dove by 18.6 percent during the first four months of the year.
Reported automobile thefts also were down 10 percent in the first four months of 1992.
The largest increase in killings comes in the West Side Harrison Area, which already has recorded 83 homicides in 1992. In the same period last year, 62 people were slain there.
``It runs in spurts,`` said Harrison Area Detective Cmdr. James Maurer.
``The worst year in this area that I can remember started very low.``
``My role is to respond and try and clear (arrest offenders) as fast as possible,`` Maurer said. ``Drugs and guns and gangs play a major role in the violence.``
Conventional wisdom says killings increase in the warm-weather months. According to Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics, more people are slain in July than any other month. In Chicago the record number of homicides was recorded in August 1991, when 121 people died; before that, the most Chicago- area killings in a month occurred in October and November 1974, when 98 and 117 slaying were reported.
``There are just so many factors,`` Maurer said about murder rates.
``Weather can contribute, but not very much.
``If people get pent up in an apartment, they kill each other just as fast as if they are outside and it is hot.``
``We do not really know what will impact on the (homicide) figures-weather, economic conditions,`` Beavers said. ``We never know.``
``It is more than worry. People are frightened, especially in neigborhoods where gang violence is prevalent and where little or no intervention is available,`` said Frances Sandoval, founder of Mothers Against Gangs. ``It is a real scary thought for the summer to come.``
The Pullman area on the Far South Side is experiencing a surge in violence because of ongoing battles between street gangs trying to control drug sales in various neigborhoods, Beavers said.
Shootings in the Pullman police area are up nearly 30 percent, and homicides have increased more than 20 percent this year, records show.
``There is an overabundance of drugs on the street, so much accessibility to weapons-and I am talking about sophisticated weapons-and we also know the economic situation that people face out here in this area,`` Beavers said.
``All of those things contribute.``
But Wentworth Area police welcomed the holiday weekend chill as a cooling effect on potential problems.
``We had a quiet weekend because of the cold weather,`` said Wentworth Area Detective Cmdr. Fredrick Miller. ``In this area when there are a lot of people on the streets, it can lead to problems.``
Wentworth, which led the city`s six police areas in murder in 1991, is running ahead of last year`s pace, with 64 slaying versus 59 in the same period in 1991.
In the Brighton Park area, which includes the Englewood police district and the Southwest Side, 54 slayings have been reported so far this year, a drop from the 65 in the same period last year.
``The city should be looking at the issue of violence with the same urgency that they place on casino gambling,`` Sandoval said. ``It should be getting attention daily.``
``Community policing is what can help,`` Beavers said. ``We need to gather the people to our side instead of them standing in the middle of the road or going to the other side. We have to get a relationship with them so they feel free about coming to us and telling us what the problems are.
``We have a lot more good people out here than criminals,`` Beavers said. ``It is just a small percentage who are causing all the problems.``
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Chicago Tribune
City Shooting Casualties Soaring
July 23, 1992|By William Recktenwald. Gun-related violence has escalated so dramatically in Chicago over the the last five years that two serious assaults are reported every hour.
So far this year, gun casualties in Chicago have resulted in three times as many deaths and nearly 14 times as many wounded as U.S. forces sustained in combat during the Persian Gulf war.
Citywide, during the first six months of 1992, the 7,285 shootings was an increase of 8 percent over last year.
Over the weekend, the city recorded its 500th homicide of 1992, the highest number at this time in a calendar year. In 1988, the 500th murder occurred Sept. 27.
``It truly is like a war,`` said Dr. John Barrett, director of Cook County Hospital`s trauma center. ``Can you imagine we see over a thousand people every year who are shot, and that is just one hospital?``
Barrett said that in 1982 only 5 percent of the gunshot victims brought to the hospital were hit by more than one bullet. ``Now 25 percent of our
(gunshot) patients are struck by more than one bullet,`` he said.
According to the Defense Department, U.S. forces recorded 148 battle deaths and 487 people wounded in action during the gulf war.
Dr. Gary Merlotti, who heads the trauma department at Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, said that in 1991 the facility treated 480 gunshot victims. In the first six months of 1992, it treated 295, more than a 20 percent increase. Christ is the trauma center for much of Chicago`s South Side.
``It used to be that half of the penetrating injuries were gunshots and half were stabbings,`` Merlotti said. ``This year, 80 percent have been gunshots.``
Gina Benavides, 19, is a shooting casualty. A graduate of Jones Commercial High School, she worked as a teller for the Northern Trust Co. On a Thursday evening in May not far from her home in the Little Village neighborhood, she was sitting in the back seat of a car with several of her girlfriends.
``I just saw headlights. I never thought anything. I never heard any gunshots,`` Benavides said.
``My friend next to me told me she felt pain. I turned away when I saw the blood. That is when I noticed that I was numb from (the chest) down,``
Benavides said.
The random gunfire had hit Benavides in the spinal cord. Interviewed at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital on the West Side, Benavides does not know if she will be able to walk again.
``I hope so,`` she said. ``I am just being evaluated now.``
Her friend recovered quickly from her wounds.
``I worry about my whole family, my mother coming home at night,``
Benavides said. ``It`s much worse now in my neigborhood. This could happen to anyone.``
In June 1992, shootings jumped by more than 15 percent citywide compared with June 1991, records show.
Chicago is not alone in the increase in gun violence. Nationally, assaults with firearms increased by 10 percent in 1988, 8 percent in 1989, and 14 percent in 1990, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The figure for 1991 is not available.
In Chicago, the largest percentage increases in June came in seven of the 25 police districts.
The South Chicago District reported 99 shootings in June 1991 and 147 this June. Shootings in Gresham rose to 102 from 75, in Deering to 95 from 54, in Morgan Park to 46 from 31, in East Chicago Avenue to 45 from 13. The Rogers Park District had 42 shootings this June, versus 28 in June 1991, and the Foster Avenue District increased to 29 from 20.
The greatest number of shootings continue to be in low-income areas, where drug-dealing gang members are shooting it out on a regular basis, police say.
Raul Raymondo, a Pilsen community leader, said: ``It used to be that gangs would do their criminal activity at night, but more and more, it is happening during the daytime.``
During the first half of this year, the Wentworth District, where many of the 70,154 people live in the Chicago Housing Authority`s Robert Taylor Homes or Stateway Gardens, was one of the police districts with the highest number of shootings per 1,000 residents. The district recorded 479 shootings during the first six months.
The Englewood District, also on the South Side, had 687 shootings, and the Harrison District on the West Side reported 558.
Murder by firearms has increased by huge proportions since 1988. Last year, 927 people were slain in Chicago, a leap of 267 victims over 1988. The increase in murders was nearly all attributable to guns. Firearms were used in 640 of last year`s murders. That was 248 more than in 1988, records show.
In 1991, handguns were the firearms of choice in the overwhelming number of Chicago murder cases. Shotguns were used in only 14 killings and rifles in 11, according to police.
Chicago police seized 22,660 guns last year, more than any other department in the U.S. This year, Chicago police have seized more than 9,500 guns.
``One thing that is striking is the locations where the gunshot victims are coming from,`` Merlotti said.
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NYC shootings stay below 1,000 as year nears end — marking 12.3% drop
GRAHAM RAYMAN DEC 27, 2016 10:10 PM
The number of shootings across the city in 2016 remained below 1,000 — with four days left in the year, according to NYPD statistics.
As of Tuesday morning, there were 985 shooting incidents, compared with 1,124 in the same period in 2015 — a 12.3% drop.
If the number of shootings comes in under 1,000, it would set a historic mark and confirm a prediction Police Commissioner James O’Neill made earlier this month.
Compared with 2014, shootings are down 14.6% — or 1,154 to 985.
Chicago Christmas weekend violence leaves 53 shot, 11 dead
“Think about the lives saved. This is a tremendous achievement,†O’Neill said at a Crain’s New York Business breakfast forum at the New York Athletic Club on Central Park South Dec. 14.
At a forum earlier in the month, Police Commissioner James O'Neill noted there were 5,000 shootings in 1992.
At a forum earlier in the month, Police Commissioner James O'Neill noted there were 5,000 shootings in 1992.
IMAGE BY: RICHARD HARBUS/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS He noted at the time that there were 5,000 shootings in 1992.
O’Neill said he needs the public’s help to continue to reduce crime.
“We can’t do it alone though,†he said. “The safer we keep New York City, the more people will want to come. I’m proud of the men and women who have made this happen.â€
Through Sunday, 1,166 people had been shot, compared with 1,321 in 2015 — an 11.7% drop.
Major crime is down in every category with the exception of assault, which has seen a 2.1% uptick.
IMAGE BY: THEODORE PARISIENNE/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS By comparison, the city of Chicago, with just 2.7 million people, has seen 4,324 people shot — compared with 2,989 in 2015. New York City’s population is 8.4 million.
On Tuesday, the number of major crimes in New York City reached 100,013 — compared with 104,327 in 2015.
Homicides remain lower than to date in 2015, with 331 compared with 344, a 3.7% drop.
Crime in the transit system is also down, by 3.4% — or 2,381 total versus 2,464 in 2015.
In fact, crime in every major category is down — except for assault, which is up 2.1%, or 20,452, compared with 20,033.
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Sunday, June 14, 1992 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
E-mail article Print
L.A. County Theme Song Becomes The Rattle Of Gunfire
By David Freed
Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES - The people of Los Angeles County are living under the gun.
More of them are shot to death than are killed in traffic accidents.
Last year, at least 8,600 people were hit by bullets - almost one an hour.
Although some researchers say the chances are slim of ever falling victim to a bullet unless one has a criminal lifestyle or spends time in a "high-crime" area, Los Angeles County has become a place where many residents avoid the park or the mall, the beach, even the windows of their own homes, for fear of a bullet.
It is a place where many judges keep guns handy while administering justice, and where thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens do not leave home without a gun stashed in their pocket or under the seat of their car.
It is a place where one out of six households has been victimized by a gun-related crime in the past two years, the Los Angeles Times Poll found, and where thousands of children may be suffering lasting emotional injury because of frequent exposure to gunfire.
Firearms-related violence is a significant problem across the country but in Los Angeles County, even before the riots of 1992, it had exploded to epidemic proportions, inexorably altering the way people live - and die.
"The violence level is overwhelming," said Sheriff Sherman Block. "Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are being denied the most basic of rights. They can't even walk the streets at night in their own neighborhood."
Excluding 489 gunshot suicides and 32 accidental shooting deaths, a record 1,554 people were slain with firearms in Los Angeles County in 1991. That is nearly four times the combined number of those who were fatally stabbed, bludgeoned or strangled.
Firearms advocates point out that twice as many Americans die annually in traffic accidents as are killed with guns or murdered by other means.
Not so in Los Angeles County. Coroner's statistics show that 1,215 people were killed in car, truck, and motorcycle accidents countywide last year - 339 fewer than were killed with guns.
The Los Angeles Times spent six months investigating firearms and the impact of gun-related violence in Los Angeles County. Among the findings:
-- A Times survey of emergency rooms determined that at least 8,050 people were brought to local hospitals with gunshot wounds in 1991 - 13 times the number of U.S. military personnel killed and wounded in the Persian Gulf War.
-- Officials estimate that it cost $54 million to treat firearms injuries last year in Los Angeles County. About $43 million of that amount was shouldered by taxpayers because most gunshot victims are treated at county-run hospitals.
Some researchers dispute whether things are as bad as the statistics indicate.
"You can look at the statistics and say your chances have increased," said psychologist Stuart Fischoff at California State University, Los Angeles, "but the . . . reality of it is that the chances are still very, very small."
Given the known casualties, the chances of being shot last year in Los Angeles County were about one in 1,000 - virtually the same risk as dying of lung cancer, according to state epidemiologist John Young.
Copyright (c) 1992 Seattle Times Company, All Rights Reserved.
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As far as shootings go, Chicago experienced more than New York and Los Angeles combined during the 90s. It wasn't uncommon for Chicago to reach over 13,000-14,000 shooting victims in a year at that time. For example in 1991, there were 922 killings (as reported immediately following the end of the year; the official number eventually rose to 928) and for every homicide there were 16 other shootings. 922*16=14,752 shootings for the year. In the first 6 months of 1992, 7,285 people were wounded by gunfire in the city of Chicago compared to 5,000+ in New York city and 8,600+ in Los Angeles county(1991 or 1992?) for the ENTIRE year. Just based off the sheer amount of people being shot, Chicago definitely takes the cake for the top 3 big cities. For the smaller cities, it's between Detroit, New Orleans and Washington DC.
Shootings also change every year so i don't think you can tell what city had the most shootings during the entire decade because the LA times always uses Los Angeles County instead of Los Angeles city for accurate crime reports.That's what makes Los Angeles unique.It's a city and county at the same time.
Now imagine if Chicago was surrounded by independent cities with their own gang problems like Compton, East L.A,Inglewood & Long beach ? That's insane.
Obviously the violence in Los Angeles is more spread out over a larger area where in Chicago it's more dense and smaller like New York city.
Shootings also change every year so i don't think you can tell what city had the most shootings during the entire decade because the LA times always uses Los Angeles County instead of Los Angeles city for accurate crime reports.That's what makes Los Angeles unique.It's a city and county at the same time.
Now imagine if Chicago was surrounded by independent cities with their own gang problems like Compton, East L.A,Inglewood & Long beach ? That's insane.
Obviously the violence in Los Angeles is more spread out over a larger area where in Chicago it's more dense and smaller like New York city.
Chicago does thought have some pretty run-down suburbs/cities with high crime rates too such as Gary and Harvey
Shootings also change every year so i don't think you can tell what city had the most shootings during the entire decade because the LA times always uses Los Angeles County instead of Los Angeles city for accurate crime reports.That's what makes Los Angeles unique.It's a city and county at the same time.
Now imagine if Chicago was surrounded by independent cities with their own gang problems like Compton, East L.A,Inglewood & Long beach ? That's insane.
Obviously the violence in Los Angeles is more spread out over a larger area where in Chicago it's more dense and smaller like New York city.
In 1991, there were 14,000+ shooting victims in Chicago vs 8,600 for the entire Los Angeles county. That's a ridiculous amount period and especially considering the size difference between the two. In 1992, New York city recorded 5,000 shootings for the year while Chicago had reported 7,285 shootings in just the first 6 months.
Now i know Gary is probably included in the Chicago metro but Cook county is majority Chicago gang members where in Los Angeles County,there's members from every city in the 400 sq area of L.A County.
Plus the California prison is where the Bay meets L.A.
Than you gotta factor in other cities like San Diego,
San Bernardino,Fresno,Sacramento etc all locked up in the same violent environment.
And really oakland is like a Westcoast version of Chicago itself plus there's all type of powerful prison gangs at play.I'd bet that Texas & Florida is the same way far as the jail system & prison politics.
Gary is in Indiana right ? Im specifically talking about the Chicago area
Gary is still considered an extension of Chicago. It's as close to Chicago as Long Beach is to Los Angeles. It's also far worse than both Compton and Long Beach in terms of violent crime. It was actually named murder capital a few times in the early 90s for cities above 100,000 people.
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