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
No comments:
Post a Comment