Chicago has the highest homicides in the U.S. Even though homicides have went down the violence it’s still going up. The people that are involved in these violent crimes are African American which make up 75 percent and 20 percent are Latinos. Most of the violence that occurs in Chicago is gang related. Moreover, most of the crimes happen in the south side and in the summers. The reasons for these high crimes are segregation; economic and social problems. The gangs have increased into other neighborhoods. The average crime in Chicago is 4 deaths and 20 or more people shot it one weekend. Last night two people were found dead and 8 people were shot.
The gangs have infiltrated other neighborhoods on the north side like Humboldt Park, which is home to Puerto Ricans, the violence is increasing there. People who live in that neighborhood lived there their whole lives, they call it home and they don’t know what to do now. You could see tagging’s on some of the houses, streets, and vacant buildings. And at nights you hear shootings. In one week there were four murders in that neighborhood. One of the victims was celebrating his graduation from high school.
The Mayor Emmanuel, church leaders, and the Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy have tried to do something about the violence. But there hasn’t been any change as far as bringing down the numbers. The Superintendent McCarthy ceased the I-Bonds from gangs because the police officers had complained that the perpetrator would leave faster than the police could file the paperwork. He also made some changes in the department by re arranging the officers and putting them in the bad neighborhoods. The Mayor Rahm Emmanuel is bringing back the programs to keep kids away from gang violence. Where is he going to find the money?. They cut summer school and after school programs. These programs were taken out about three years ago as part of the budget cut. They want to save the school from being closed and from keeping the schools getting into more debt. President Obama spoke a little bit about the violence in Chicago but we haven’t seen any stricter laws or anything to stop the violence. This is President Obama’s hometown why is he not doing anything about this?
Changing Chicago is not an easy task is would take time but it has to start from the top. We need some new politicians in Chicago because some have been involved in corruption or illegal activity. There are supposed to be there to help the citizens not steal from them. Also most politicians don’t get involved because it doesn’t concern them. We would not see any change if we don’t do anything about the politicians who don’t care. There are still a lot of questions asked but there is no answer to them, How many people have to die before someone does something about it?, When are they going to pass harsher laws against the perpetrators?.