Multi-media

Written: July 31, 2016

Is Chicago Accepting a Culture of Death

January 2016 – 57 homicides; 25 more than in January 2015.

Keshawn Marzette was a 15-year-old, African American boy with an easy smile. As reported by Gorner, et al, the boy was shot in the midst of a robbery on January 9, 2016. Keshawn and another 17-year-old boy, both lay dead, the sticky outflow of blood pooling beneath them creating a sharp contrast with the white tile floor of the Z&S Liquor store. An establishment known for the owner’s determination to protect himself and his employees, the boys were shot while attempting to rob the store. Interviews with neighborhood residents revealed a lack of sympathy for the boys and an attitude of “if you do bad things, bad things happen”. Keshawn’s demise is just an example of the 2,404 shootings that have rocked the city of Chicago since the beginning of this year. An even more disturbing figure is the in 399 homicides that have occurred in the same period (chicagotribune.com/Chicago/homicides).

For the entire 2015 year, Chicago experienced 490 murders. This year the city is on track to top that number by another 200 lives. Just for the time period January through June, the year 2016 has tallied 97 more murders than the same months in 2015 (chicagotribune.com/Chicago/homicides). Unless there is a drastic change, Chicago is on line to have a murder toll of over 684 people. What is it that is going on in Chicago that is allowing for a culture of murder?

February 2016, 45 homicides, 25 more than in February 2015

Tony Jones was walking on West Le Moyne Street in the early evening of February 5, when he was shot several times in his abdomen and back (Williams-Harris, Chachkevitch, Web). The acrid smell of blood was quenched by the cold as it drained from his body, spreading out like a macabre dusty pink lace in the snow. The 18-year-old had dragged himself several blocks before an ambulance was called to provide him assistance. Sirens blared as the ambulance crew worked feverishly to save him during the transport to Loyola University Medical Center. Everything had been done that could be done, but Tony died of his injuries later than evening.

Tony lived in Austin, one of the most violent communities in the Chicago area. The Chicago Tribune’s Community Page for the Austin neighborhood shows it to be a difficult place to live. With 219 violent crimes in February, that meant a violent crime happened in Austin every 3.5 hours. There were eight families that had to deal with the emotional upheaval of sexual assault. With 77 robberies in such a small area, the citizens can hardly feel secure in their homes at night. Battery crimes (85) represent attacks from both known and unknown assailants, indicating that even when you are at home in Austin, a healthy sense of fear could be a needed survival skill. Assaults totaled 42, which could not make one feel free from possible harm.

But for seven families, they had to withstand the worst of news – their loved one was gone and their laughter would never be heard again, their lives snuffed out by the heinous act of another. The Chicago Tribune crime pages’ report that violent crime, especially shootings, are exploding in number, even encroaching on the more affluent central and northern Chicago neighborhoods. Once thought safe, even the area’s best communities are recording more violent crimes, especially those involving guns.

March 2016 – 49 Homicide reports, 14 more than in February 2015

Tommie L. Pledge, a member of the Four Corner Hustlers gang, was shot down on March 3, 2016. Two fellow members of his own gang have been arrested for the murder and are awaiting trial. Videotape of the Humboldt Park cell phone store (http://abc7chicago.com/news/brazen-cell-phone-store-robbery-captured-on-video/525499/) shows that Pledge was shot in the back by an assailant after entering the store. Pledge’s death at the hand of his gang mates is indicative of the level of violence these types of gangs are willing to engage in for whatever new rationale they have made for themselves (Nickeas, Briscoe, Crepeau, Chachkevitch, Web).

The debate about gun control runs rampant in the nation. In a year of national election, candidates of both parties are asserting their take. The recent inability to get any comprehensive legislation on gun control following the Orlando nightclub massacre is emblematic of the conundrum the gun control issue is. Democrats held a sit in, Republicans debated the issue, but still the end result was no action was taken. And, in Chicago the numbers of the dead continued to rise.

There seems to be a lack of cohesion between politicians and police. MacDonald reports that Chicago Mayor Emanuel is “now genuflecting to the city’s activists” who were pushing for big changes in the way the police were to interact with the community, adding additional links to an already overburdened system. Much like the gang members who kill one another, the political system is as broken, if not more so, than the community’s trust in the police. Fox News Insider reports: “police ‘stop-and-frisks’ are down 90 percent this year, with officers saying they’re afraid of lawsuits, being labeled racist or appearing in online videos.” In a world where cell phone are available to record every move and step a police officer takes, it is no wonder they would be less willing to put their career and/or their lives on the line. This pulling back from community policing is being referred to as the “Ferguson Effect”, so names after the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.

MacDonald reports that the violence in Chicago is reaching epidemic proportions and blames the Ferguson Effect. That effect that creates a leeriness within the police officer so that he fears being filmed when trying to do his job. The internet and television news abound in reports of police brutality and inappropriate policing. Police are forced into a position of feeling that they have to be perfect in all their dealings with the public for fear of any infraction being taped and made the lead story on the evening news. In Chicago, this has been exacerbated by a lack of support from the political leadership, especially the mayor’s office.

One of the primary modes of policing is being able to be in the communities and talk with the people. In a 2015 decision one of the primary tools of police work was taken off the counter for Chicago police – the first contact information. Community policing works because police get to know the members of their community and have been able to find matching descriptions of suspects in the first contact information obtain at an earlier time. Mayor Emmanual’s support of the protestors against the police exacerbated an already difficult situation by removing the ability of officers to collect this vital data. His choice supported the protesting public, further tying the hands of the police force, the outcome of the “Ferguson Effect” – a difficult choice for policing. (MacDonald)

April 2016 – 41 homicides; 6 more homicides in February 2015

Dennis Bradford III, an 18-year-old, African-American male of South Mozart Street was found dead of gunshot wounds to the head and wrist. Pronounced dead at the scene, Dennis was a member of a faction of Gangster Disciples (Crepeau and Wong, Web.). His death is believed to be gang related and no suspects have been arrested for the murder.

Under Illinois law, no one under the age of 18 is allowed to carry a weapon, and those over 18, in order to carry a concealed weapon, must have obtained an Illinois concealed carry license (Handgunlaw.us). The City of Chicago code, obviously ignored by most gun crime offenders, states: “No person shall carry on or possess with intent to use unlawfully against another…stun gun, taser or other dangerous or deadly weapon.” Dennis’ murderer obviously didn’t care about the city code.

Website FactCheck.org reports that according to a 2013 CDC Report Chicago is one of the top ten cities in the nation for murder. Chicago had a ban on handguns during the time covered by the report. The report continued to say: “There’s no discernible pattern among those cities, nor clear or convincing evidence in these statistics that shows more gun laws lead to more or less gun crime.”

May 2016 – 65 homicides, 6 more than in May 2015

De’Kayla Dansberry, a 16-year-old girl was stabbed to death during a large group fight in

Parkway Gardens neighborhood. Believed to be gang-related the crime remains unsolved at this time, although the fight involved a “large number” of people (Sadovi and Chachkevitch, Web). The relationship to gang related activity cannot be ignored, yet, maybe more importantly in this discussion, the majority of homicide fatalities in Chicago are African American.

In his 2016 update of his report “The Color of Crime”, Rubenstein debunks much of what is considered “common knowledge” of the question of race and crime in the United States. In one of his primary points, “different racial groups commit crime at strikingly different rates,” he also points out that “blacks commit more crimes than any other ethnic group.” Further, the rate of Black on Black crime is the highest rate at 62.2%, compared to the next highest category of White on Other at 40.3%, indicates that there is a racial component that is prominent in violent crime. Rubenstein goes on to opine that the statistics compiled do not bear out the assertions made by the Black Lives Matter movement. Statistically, police are not specifically targeting members of the African American community.

June 2016 – 70 homicides, 21 more than in June 2015

Cutting through the late afternoon noise of Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood as an ambulance siren screams impatiently at the rush hour traffic. Inside, Marshawn Clinkscale, a 17-year old, suffering from a headshot proved unresponsive. Taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital he was pronounced dead at 5:40 p.m. and “no arrests have been made” (Ward and Bauer, Web). Marshawn’s murder is only one of 70 homicides that occurred in June of 2016, this increase of 21 homicides over last year shows that something continues to go terribly wrong in Chicago. Chicago’s statistics are not following the national trend. FactCheck.org statistics indicate that on the national level crime overall and, especially, violent crime is down.

July 2016 – 66 homicides, 49 more than in July 2015

Trabon Clemons was only 24-years old and a resident of the Hanover Park neighborhood.

He died on the 4th of July of multiple gunshot wounds, having been shot through the head (Moore, Web). The oft-spouted “police are investigating but at this time there are no leads in the case, although gang-violence is suspected” was given in regard to Trabon’s murder.

Can you imagine? You are celebrating a fun and happy 4th of July, and then, there’s a knock at the door. You open it and there, standing in front of you is a police officer with that look on his face. You begin to shake your head no as you watch his lips move, knowing he is saying words you do not want to hear. He says them anyway, and kindly catches you as your legs turn to mush, unable to hold the weight of the news you have just received. Your heart pounds and your voice screams a denial of the truth. You try to breathe as the breath seems to desert your lungs and leave you gasping. The world tilts out of balance and darkness folds in around you as you crumple to a fetal position in the doorway. Kindly hands help you to stand and guide you to a chair inside. Can you imagine being Trabon’s parents?

The “Black Lives Matter” movement has been a consistent news story in the past two years. The movement has protested at court rulings, political rallies, and even rioted in several cities; making their point in both constructive and destructive ways. However, can their cries be considered genuine when so many black lives have been lost in Chicago, with a predominant number of the murders being black on black crime as reported by Rubenstein? Where is the hue and cry for Keshawn, De’Kayla, Marshawn, Trabon and the other murdered Afro-Americans from Chicago? Where are the protests for Tony, Dennis, and Tommie? Where are the signs? The marches? If, as the Black Lives Matter movement professes “Black Lives DO Matter,” why is Chicago so often left out of their area of concentration and concern? Foley points out in his July 27, 2016 article that 75% of those murdered in the city are black, and that a whopping 71$ of the murderers are black (web).

The answer is that Black Lives Matter does not report Black on Black murder. When asked about this important discrepancy, a movement representative commented that the focus is on justice and abuse of power rather than just numeric deaths. When compared to the protests and demonstrations this seems somewhat disingenuous – if Black Lives Matter, why don’t all those black lives that are ended by other blacks matter as well (Hafner, web)?

On the 4th of July holiday weekend, there were 60 shootings including five fatalities in Chicago. Fox News Insider reports that the police believed that the majority of the shootings involved gang members. Even with shootings and homicides being down from the 2015 holiday weekend amount, the totals are still abhorrent to see. The numbers for July did not improve as the month went on, with 67 murders by the end of the month.

Are the people of Chicago, hearing the constant blare of sirens, combined with the nearly bored litany of the reporter writing of another shooting death in a Chicago neighborhood, just inured to the murder and death that happen around them? While it should not be, it could be understandable with the way the city is nearly under siege and statistics indicating that a reprehensible 700 homicides in 2016 is possible. In a culture where “no snitching” has been openly used by political leaders as the way individual’s should interact with their local police (MacDonald) it is not surprising that murders are up and policing is down.

The answer may after all, lie within the gambit of the issue of race. Without Rubenstein’s detailed research it would be easy to believe that Chicago was exploding in violence and that black lives were being snuffed out on a daily basis by white perpetrators and police officers. However, his thorough research indicates that the largest threat to a 20-something year old black male in Chicago is another black male. The predominant number of homicides in Chicago are black on black crime the numbers could be being ignored.

This could explain the under-reporting of Chicago’s homicide rate in the national news. Chicago is imploding in a perfect storm of violence and homicide. From the “Ferguson Effect” to the high rate of black on black crime, combined with a public that is becoming desensitized to the violence happening around them, Chicagoans are living with significant increases of violence and murder in the city. A variety of factors have allowed a culture of murder to consume the city of Chicago. Let us hope that the ones with the real power, the people of the city, will awaken like a sleeping giant and fight back the encroaching violence overshadowing them.

 

Works Cited

4 Corner Hustlers Tag. N.d. 4 Corner Hustlers, Flicker, Chicago. Web. 24 July 2016.

“60 Shot, 5 Fatally Over 4th of July Weekend in Chicago.” Fox News Insider. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2016.

“Chicago.” Creation of Gun Offender Registry (§ 8-26-060)- Decoded- Decoded. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2016.

“Chicago: 75% of Murdered Are Black, 71% of Murderers Are Black.” Intellectual Takeout. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 July 2016.

Crepeau, Megan, and Grace Wong. “1 Dead, 7 Wounded in Chicago Shootings.” Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

“Crime in Chicago — Chicago Tribune.” Shootings. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2016.

“Crime in Chicago — Chicago Tribune.” Crime in Chicagoland. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2016.

“Crime in Chicago — Chicago Tribune.” Austin. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 July 2016.

De’Kayla Dansberry. N.d. Chicago Sun Times, Chicago. Chicago Sun Times. Chicago Sun Times. Web. 24 July 2016.

Dennis Bradford III. N.d. Homicide Watch Chicago, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago. Homicide Watch Chicago. Chicago Sun Times. Web. 24 July 2016.

Gorner, Jeremy, Gregory Pratt, Megan Crepeau, Rosemary Regina Sobol, and Dawn Rhodes. “Cops: Liquor Store Clerk Fatally Shoots 2 Would-be Robbers, 15 and 17.” Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 11 Jan. 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

“Gun Laws, Deaths and Crimes.” FactCheckorg. N.p., 4 Oct. 2015. Web. 10 July 2016.

Hafner, Josh. “Why Black Lives Matter Doesn’t Focus on ‘black-on-black’ Crime.” USA Today. Gannett, 2016. Web. 31 July 2016.

Hussain, Rummana. “Second man charged with shooting Tommie Lee Pledge, who prosecutors say was in same gang as killers” April 7, 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

Keshawn Marzette. N.d. Homicide Watch Chicago, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago. Homicide Watch Chicago. Chicago Sun Times. Web. 24 July 2016.

Little Village Shooting. N.d. Dnainfo.com, Chicago. Dnainfo.com. Web. 24 July 2016.

Mac Donald, Heather. “How the ‘Ferguson Effect’ Is Destroying Chicago.” New York Post. N.p., 09 Jan. 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

Moore, Evan F. “Little Village Shootings Kill Trabon Clemmons, 1 Other Wounded, Police Say – Little Village – DNAinfo Chicago.” DNAinfo Chicago. N.p., 4 July 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

Nickeas, Peter, Tony Briscoe, Megan Crepeau, and Alexandra Chachkevitch. “3 Killed, 10 Wounded in Chicago Shootings.” Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 3 Mar. 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

Rubenstein, Edwin S., M.A. “The Color of Crime 2016 Revised Edition.” The Color of Crime. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

Sadovi, Carlos, and Alexandra Chachkevitch. “Girl, 15, Fatally Stabbed; 6 Shot to Death, 8 Others Injured.” Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 15 May 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

Sidewalk Scene. N.d. Chicago Tribune, Chicago Tribune, Chicago. 3 Killed, 10 Wounded. Chicago Tribune. Web. 24 July 2016.

South Shore Cell Phone Robbery Captured on Surveillance Video. South Shore Cell Phone Robbery Captured on Surveillance Video. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 July 2016.

Tony Jones. N.d. Homicide Watch Chicago, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago. Homicide Watch Chicago. Chicago Sun Times. Web. 24 July 2016.

“United States Hangun Law/Illinois.” Illinois Hand Gun Law. Hangunlaw.US, n.d. Web.

Ward, Joe, and Kelly Bauer. “South Shore Shooting Kills Marshawn Clinkscale, 17, Police Say – South Shore – DNAinfo Chicago.” DNAinfo Chicago. N.p., 3 June 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.

Williams-Harris, Deanese, and Alexandra Chachkevitch. “2 Killed, 3 Others Wounded in Shootings in Chicago.” Chicagotribune.com. N.p., 5 Feb. 2016. Web. 10 July 2016.