Violence in Chicago remains stubbornly high as the city recorded about the same number of homicides and shootings in January as the year-earlier period, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Police Department.
Much of the violence remains concentrated in three police districts — Englewood on the South Side and Harrison and Austin on the West Side — where half of the homicides took place, Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a news conference at the Englewood District station.
Asked about recent comments by President Donald Trump about Chicago’s violence, Johnson said he welcomed the president’s attention to the problem, saying he’d like more federal financial support for programs to support the most troubled neighborhoods.
"I like the fact that he recognizes Chicago has some challenges," said Johnson, who noted that other cities also are seeing a spike in violence.
Nearly 300 people shot so far this year in Chicago, matching start of violent 2016 Megan Crepeau
A 3-year-old boy and an off-duty Cook County sheriff’s deputy were among 27 people shot across Chicago over the weekend, a drop from last weekend but enough to push the number of people hit by gunfire so far this year to nearly 300.With two days to go in January, the number of shootings and homicides…
A 3-year-old boy and an off-duty Cook County sheriff’s deputy were among 27 Dumanbet people shot across Chicago over the weekend, a drop from last weekend but enough to push the number of people hit by gunfire so far this year to nearly 300.With two days to go in January, the number of shootings and homicides…
(Megan Crepeau)
At about the same time during a White House listening session to mark African-American History Month, Trump raised the issue again, saying that violence in Chicago was "totally out of control," according to a press pool report.
Last week a tweet from Trump drew wide attention. "If Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on … I will send in the Feds!" he wrote.
"If they’re not going to solve the problem — and what you’re doing is the right thing — then we’re going to solve the problem for them," the president said Wednesday. "Because we’re going to have to do something. … What’s happening in Chicago should not be happening in this country."
With pressure mounting to find solutions, Johnson announced at the news conference that the department was launching intelligence centers at two districts that will use more technology to speed up how quickly officers can respond to shots fired.
The pilot project, starting in the Englewood and Harrison districts, will include data pinpointing the location where gunshots have been fired. Officers in the districts will also be linked by smartphone technology to the data to improve how quickly they can respond to the scene.
Johnson said Chicago recorded 51 homicides in January, one more than the first month of 2016, a year that would emerge as the most violent in two decades.
Across the city, the department said, 18 of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods saw an increase in homicides. In the other 59, homicides remained the same or fell below levels a year earlier.
After Trump criticism on Chicago violence, Emanuel touts police smarts Bill Ruthhart, Jeremy Gorner and Hal Dardick
Two days after President Donald Trump told a national television audience that Mayor Rahm Emanuel needed to “smarten up and toughen up” on fighting gun violence, the mayor held a carefully orchestrated news conference to discuss Chicago’s “smart-policing strategy.”
As Emanuel summoned a swarm of…
Two days after President Donald Trump told a national television audience that Mayor Rahm Emanuel needed to “smarten up and toughen up” on fighting gun violence, the mayor held a carefully orchestrated news conference to discuss Chicago’s “smart-policing strategy.”
As Emanuel summoned a swarm of…
(Bill Ruthhart, Jeremy Gorner and Hal Dardick)
One bright note was the Deering District on the Southwest Side, which posted a 50 percent decline in homicides, the department said.
Johnson began the news conference on a lighter note, referring to his near-fainting at a news conference last Friday when the department first tried to announce the new crime-fighting efforts. Later that day, Johnson revealed that he was on a waiting list for a kidney transplant but blamed his "lightheadedness" in the morning on his taking blood pressure medicine on an empty stomach.
"Good morning, deja vu all over again," Johnson said Wednesday to start the news conference.
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