Much of what you believe about murders in Chicago may not be true. Consider the recent widespread media coverage of Chicago murder victims like 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, the innocent honor student who was shot to death in January not far from President Obama's house less than two weeks after she performed at his second inauguration.
Think also about 18-year-old Janay McFarlane, shot and killed in February on the same day that her younger sister sat two rows behind President Obama when he delivered a speech at Hyde Park High School. Although Janay's murder happened in a northern suburb of Chicago, it added to the general view that murders in Chicago are on the increase, and perhaps more out of control than ever.
That isn't exactly accurate.
Of course, every murder is one too many, and the reported 506 murders of 2012, and the 61 that have so far occurred in 2013, are quite alarming and unacceptable. People are outraged by the senseless ways that most of the Chicago murders happen, the reckless use of handguns, the high number of young people as both victims and offenders, the record number of unsolved cases, and the added strain on mainly Black and Hispanic communities, with no clear solutions to the killings in sight. Additionally, the 24-hour news cycle, the proliferation of social media and the fact that our president is associated with the South Side of Chicago have subjected the city to additional media attention. However, it’s important to understand the numbers to get a better picture of what's going on in the city.
Chicago Murders From 1991-2011*
-Prior to 2012, murders in Chicago had decreased by 53 percent over a 20-year period, with 928 murders in 1991, and 433 in 2011—the City's lowest since the 1960s.
-Chicago is 237 square miles and has 25 police districts. Of the city's 2.7 million residents, over 887,000 are Black.
Read the rest of the article at EBONY
http://www.ebony.com/news-views/enough-chicago-murder-by-the-numbers-405#ixzz2WWn7C3Js
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