The low point so far in Chicago's closely watched battle with street gangs may have been the day that Michelle Obama came home for the funeral of a teenage honor student.
A year ago, the city's bloodiest January in more than a decade had just ended. On Feb. 9, 2013, the first lady stood in a church mourning 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who had been shot dead in a gang dispute she had nothing to do with. It happened just a mile from the Obamas' Chicago house.
Since then, the number of homicides and other violent crimes that turned Chicago into a national symbol of gun violence has fallen sharply.
The city led the nation in homicides in 2012 with more than 500. It ended 2013 with 415 homicides — the lowest total in nearly half a century but still far more than any other U.S city, including the much larger Los Angeles and New York.
The overall crime rate fell last year to a level not seen since 1972, and the number of shooting incidents involving victims 16 and younger dropped 40 percent in 12 months, city officials say.
(link below)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/07/chicago-violence-gangs_n_4745040.html?&ir=Chicago&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000059
Friday, February 7, 2014
HOW ANTI-GANG EFFORTS ARE IMPACTING CHICAGO
The low point so far in Chicago's closely watched battle with street gangs may have been the day that Michelle Obama came home for the funeral of a teenage honor student.
A year ago, the city's bloodiest January in more than a decade had just ended. On Feb. 9, 2013, the first lady stood in a church mourning 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, who had been shot dead in a gang dispute she had nothing to do with. It happened just a mile from the Obamas' Chicago house.
Since then, the number of homicides and other violent crimes that turned Chicago into a national symbol of gun violence has fallen sharply.
The city led the nation in homicides in 2012 with more than 500. It ended 2013 with 415 homicides — the lowest total in nearly half a century but still far more than any other U.S city, including the much larger Los Angeles and New York.
The overall crime rate fell last year to a level not seen since 1972, and the number of shooting incidents involving victims 16 and younger dropped 40 percent in 12 months, city officials say.
(link below)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/07/chicago-violence-gangs_n_4745040.html?&ir=Chicago&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000059
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment