Peace on our Streets?: Chicago Attempts to Combat Violent Crime

Chicago police ready to respond on May Day, 2012. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Gun violence has once again become a national issue, but in the city of Chicago, where gun-related deaths are commonplace, the new year has reminded the nation of the Windy City’s growing body count. The recent death of 15 year-old Hadiya Pendleton garnered headlines because of a tragic twist to her story: she had only just returned to Chicago after performing as a majorette at several events for President Obama’s Inauguration. Her death on January 29th was the 42nd due to Chicago gun violence since the beginning of 2013. Most of these shootings stem from crime and gang violence, but many of the dead, such as Pendleton, are innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. Luis Gutierrez, a Democratic Representative from the Chicago area, has argued passionately that massacres in Newton and Aurora should not be the only events to shape the gun control debate because children and innocents are killed in Chicago every week. Voices like Gutierrez argue that gun control should not be aimed just at the prevention of mass murderers, but also street thugs in inner cities that cause far more deaths and with such frequency. While isolated massacres are undoubtedly a tragedy, the death toll from daily crime and gang violence elevates the issue of guns even further.

Under Superintendent Garry McCarthy, the Chicago Police Department has implemented many new tactics to try to decrease the levels of gang violence, which accounts for the vast majority of homicides in Chicago. Chief among these tactics is the “gang audit,” which is a systematic attempt to understand, in broad terms, the gangs across the city. Not only do audits attempt to map out the locations of gangs, but they also work to create a real-time social network of gang activity. When successful, gang audits help officers respond to violent gang activities with an informed understanding of the gangs involved, how they operate, and how to best handle the situation.

Audits are also meant to be used as a preventative method. With information from audits, police can identify at risk youth in schools or engage in rehabilitation techniques for first-time offenders. Gang audits are not a new phenomenon; they have been around since the Chicago Area Project in the 1940s, but officials hope that with time they can have a renewed and greater positive impact on the city. Interestingly enough, although homicide rates have been up across the board, they are down in the district that first implemented gang audits in 2010.

In addition to gang audits, the CPD has recently responded to its own internal audits and reassigned nearly 200 police officers from desk duty to area saturation teams. CPD officials believe that by having more officers on the beat they can deter gang violence. It was also determined that much of the deskwork can be done by civilians rather than officers. Yet, the saturation of police on the street belies a major hindrance to their audit program. Police officers are traditionally taught with a military model in mind; they are trained in military combat and the use of force to stop a target. However, many social scientists—including those behind the gang audits theory—believe that police need to have more training under a social worker model, one that gives them greater ability to work on prevention of violence rather than just a response to violence. Until police officers get more training in prevention methods, there will be little they can do other than saturate the streets.

In comparison to New York, Chicago appears to be failing at providing adequate policing. While Chicago's violent crime creeps increasingly into the national spotlight, New York last year reported a day without violent crime. The difference between the outcomes in the two cities is striking. In 2012, New York city had the lowest number of murders in over 40 years with a little over 400 homicides. Chicago meanwhile, had it's most violent year since 2008 with over 500 homicides, more than New York despite having less than half its population. Looking at the differences between the police programs of the two cities, although not the entire story, provides some insight into the variation.

New York's policing program focuses on “hot spots” where crime has been found to be likely to occur. These hot spots then receive extra focus from the police on daily patrols, including targeting individuals for pat downs in the area. Apparently cracking down on these hotspots does not shift crime elsewhere. Garry McCarthy started out in New York and is employing several of the tools he used there in Chicago. He brought CompStat to Chicago, a program to analyze crime statistics that was designed to hold police commanders responsible for performance. He ran the program in New York, and its introduction in 2011 signals that Chicago may borrow other elements from New York's strategy.

New York's program does have tradeoffs when it comes to civil rights. The focus on hotspots often comes paired with an emphasis on stop and frisk tactics, where police detain and pat down individuals they deem to be suspicious and likely to commit a crime. The individuals targeted are overwhelmingly black and Latino residents in high crime, impoverished neighborhoods. The tactic has been cited for causing heightened tensions between the police and minority populations. Its constitutionality has also been called into question, with a judge in January 2013 ruling that aspects of the program violate the Fourth Amendment. Whether New York's program created a police state or a safe city for all regardless of class and race continues to be a hotly debated topic. Chicago policy makers will likely learn from the New York case in developing any new program.

Whether new policing strategies and arms control will help reduce the violence in Chicago remains to be seen. Urban violence is a complex phenomenon that is not fully understood, and even a well run police program might not be enough. Unemployment, concentrated poverty, and poor educational opportunities may share as much of the blame for the dire situations in several Chicago neighborhoods. Any new policies would have to be implemented properly, with dedication and support from the city, in order to succeed. New attempts to end violence in Chicago provide hope for desperate communities, but they are far from a guarantee that the violence will end.

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Peace on our Streets?: Chicago Attempts to Combat Violent Crime