Police

Chicago police shooting of Laquan McDonald

The video is out. Finally. After long attempts to sweep it under the rug failed. This Sun-Times editorial provides good background. It’s a bad shooting. (Though honestly I was expecting even worse, like an unarmed rationally behaving victim.) The mayor (now, at least) and the police chief have said the officer is at fault. The officer who killed McDonald fits…

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High Crime Neighborhood + Cops on Bikes = Less Crime

From the Chicago Tribune: The [Chicago] impact zones, established in February 2013 after a violent 2012, comprise just 3 percent of the city’s geographic area but account for one-fifth of its violent crime, according to the department. From the Sun Times: In March 2013, the department began assigning foot patrol offers to the high-crime areas. McCarthy said feedback from the…

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Police

Why (some) good people don’t like cops

Because (some) cops enforce non-existent laws and treat them like sh*t. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about a recent encounter with police on the streets of Chicago: Catercorner to the volunteers of Safe Passage, two cops sat in an SUV, snug and warm. Our video team was shooting the conversation between our host and the kid. One of the cops rolled down…

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Good news from Chicago

NBC Chicago Reports via Atlantic Cities: Chicago closed out the first 11 months of 2013 with 380 murders, a drop from 474 in the same period of 2012, according to police data. That’s the fewest for any year in Chicago since 1965, according to Adam Collins, the Chicago Police Department Director of News Affairs.

Police

Bang Bang, That Awful Sound

Chicago’s 2012 murder total was 532. NYC’s total number for 2012 was 417. Even in absolute numbers this is significantly lower than Chicago! Amazing. The comparable homicide rates for NYC and Chicago are 5 and 20 per 100,000. Homicides in New York City declined 19 percent from 2011 (just to remember: in 1990 2,245 people were killed in NYC). To…

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While I’m out…

Check out this lengthy piece (and well worth reading the whole thing) by David Simon about murders, stats, the BPD, the state’s attorney’s office, and the need for main-stream media. (And thanks to an anonymous comment for cluing me in.) The Stat: In 2011, the Baltimore Police Department charged 70 defendants with murder or manslaughter. Yet in 2010, the department charged…

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Good Policing in Chicago

Well done. I wasn’t expecting things to go so well with the NATO summit. But they did. Kudos to Police Superintendent McCarthyand all the men and women of the Chicago Police Department. Lesson can be learned (particularly by West Coast police departments that don’t seem to be so good at this) and proper preparation is key. 1) Don’t tolerate minor…

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Guardian Angels Stabbed In Chicago

I’ve always admired the Guardian Angels. They made me feel safe when in high school and riding the L alone, late at night. A man was being robbed, and they — unarmed — intervened. They got stabbed. From the Sun Times. Meanwhile in Chicago, a group of 100 white out-of-towners take a stroll through the Southside.

Police

In the Windy City, Blowing People Away

One easy way to tell if people have no relation to the criminal justice system is if they believe it actually works… you know, works as in guilty people get convicted after a fair trial, innocent people walk free, and victims feel like justice has been served. If you believe that, you watch too much TV. The Chicago Sun-Timesis looking…

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