When it comes to deadly shooting statistics, headlines in the Chicago Tribuneoften read more like a typical day in the Vietnam War for American troops. Parts of the city mayored by former top aide to Pres. Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, have devolved into a chaotic war zone where 1,800 people have been shot - including 200 fatally - just this year. While the financially insolvent city government of Chicago has many problems, including keeping its teachers in classrooms, violent and deadly stabbings and shootings have come to define west and south-side Chicago.
Chicago's pension debt and civility deficit
As sure as bloated city government pensions threaten to bankrupt Chicago, unabated gun violence has contributed to a decline in population as people flee the social tension and unrelenting, ever-rising rate of homicide. In all, the Windy City recorded its 300th homicide over the Father’s Day weekend. A stark and troubling report in the Chicago Tribune published today states 59 people were shot including 13 fatalities between Friday afternoon and Monday morning, all within 60 hours. One of the survivors of the shooting is just three-years-old, however he remained in critical condition at press time. The boy was shot in the shoulder while sitting in a car seat.
Rahm Emanuel reins over city's decline
Mayor Rahm Emanuel recently fired his police chief to deflect criticism from his administration however the firing had little or no affect on the escalating violence on city streets. A 16-year-old boy was shot dead Friday and a 65-year-old woman and 73-year-old man was shot in the head that same day, underscoring the fact that victim's age has no bearing.
Respectfully recording the location and circumstances of all of the shootings would prove nearly impossible in one news article since it would require too much newspaper space to record and too many words for the average reader to absorb. Meanwhile, Emanuel seems politically unfazed and prepared to lord over the weekly massacresat least for the duration of his term.
Generally, the Harrison District neighborhood has been hit harder by homicides than any other district in the city, with 37 deaths. The Englewood district on the South Side follows closely with had 36, so far. The Austin District on the West Side, the Gresham District on the South Side and the Deering District on the South and Southwest sides each saw 24 deaths by homicide to date this year.
Fleeing Chicago
As homicides and street violence in Chicago continue to escalate, recent census data reveal more people are leaving Chicagothancome to the city. The numbers are drastic enough that last year Illinois joined the unenviable list of states with declining populations. From July 2013 to July 2014, Illinois shrank by about 10,000 residents in all, joining other states in decline such as West Virginia, Connecticut and Alaska.
