INTERACTIVE MAP ANALYZES GUN CRIMES IN CHICAGO
INTERACTIVE MAP ANALYZES GUN CRIMES IN CHICAGO
By Christopher Shuttlesworth
Chicago is one of the most beautiful and lively cities that attract tourists around the
world with its skyline architecture, sports rivalry between the Cubs and Sox along with the multiple championships from the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks. Don’t
forget, Chicago is also known for its famous deep dish pizza and beautiful stores on the Magnificent Mile. But unfortunately, the ‘Windy City’ is also known for its severe high gun crime rate.
Chicago Criminal Defense Attorney Michael J. Petro created an interactive map to analyze gun crimes in Chicago neighborhoods from 2012 to 2016.
“Although the U.S. Constitution states we have the right to bear arms and owning a gun in Illinois is legal, by state law, a permit must be obtained, and the weapon must be concealed,” according to mjpetro.
com.
The report shows that over 100 gun crimes were committed in 13 different Chicago neighborhoods in 2016. Of those thirteen neighborhoods, three communities saw over 200 gun crimes, which resulted in 3,474 weapon arrests in 2016.
This is an increase of arrests made in 2015 with 3,362 total. Petro said it is almost difficult for him to imagine people wanting to leave the city of Chicago, but this
gun and weapon violence is definitely a problem.
“It’s mind boggling because we now have a reputation of being a violent city, he said. “ I think it’s effecting everything from kids who want to go to school here to people who want to move and start a family here. This is where it’s really problematic in my mind.”
Petro’s interactive map showed that there has been a decrease in gun arrests from (3904) in 2012 to (3,474) in 2016, but he said this is the main issue that is ultimately defining the course of the city.
“What seems to be the problem is that the leaders of the city have seen a decrease, but they don’t seem to give any way to the fact that the number overall is way too high,” he said. “It’s like they say ‘It’s going down, so let’s put this on the back burner.’ But I think
it’s a much more serious issue than people are giving attention to.”
“It is also common knowledge that the majority of the crimes and violence in Chicago occur during the summer. These patterns are found in the report as well, which shows that over 25% of these 3,474 weapons arrests occurred during the summer from June through September,” according to mjpetro.com.
“Out of the 25 police districts, 9 have made over 200 arrests. District 11, which includes West Garfield Park and Central Park, had over 400 weapons arrests during 2016.”
Petro continued to explain that people in the city of Chicago are very aware of what’s going on with the violence, but he said the problem happens when people become aware and then just tune it out, adding, it’s time for the city of Chicago to assess the issue on gun violence differently than they have in the past and treat it as a public health crisis at this point, especially with the number of people that are being shot.
“I always tell people if we had a deadly disease and had 3,000 people who got a specific type of cancer in the city of Chicago last year, would we approach the problem the same way we approach gun violence,” Petro questioned? “Think about how many scientists
that would be in the city of Chicago if we had a deadly disease that be 3,000 to 5,000 people caught last year, and it killed over 500 people.”
He said a lot of innocent people like single mothers and kids coming from school are being killed, so this gun violence issue could be seen as a public health crisis.
“I know a lot of people aren’t going to like that because they may say sometimes when there’s a deadly disease, we have to quarantine people and take extreme measures to make sure other people don’t catch the virus,” Petro said. “But maybe we need to start looking at the priorities to get this under control because it’s effecting everyone now.”
He added, “If tourists don’t want to come here and if athletes don’t want to play here or if people don’t want to drive up here to see Lollapalooza because they’re scared they may be involved in some type of gun violence, then maybe we have to start looking at it a
little more creatively.”
To view Petro’s interactive map, visit, https:// www.mjpetro.com/press-releases/chicago-guncrimes- 2016 or https://www.mjpetro.com/
Latest Stories
- COOK COUNTY COMMISSIONER KISHA MCCASKILL TAKES CENTER STAGE AS SOUTH SUBURBAN COMMUNITY UNITES FOR A GREENER FUTURE
- RICH TOWNSHIP SUPERVISOR CALVIN JORDAN LEADS HEARTWARMING SPRING CELEBRATION FOR HUNDREDS OF FAMILIES WITH “EASTER JAMBOREE” CELEBRATION
- Local Musician’s Career Spans 50 Years
- Have Questions About Money? The Illinois State Treasurer’s Office Can Help
- Friends of the Parks and Chicago Park District Hold Annual Earth Day Cleanup
Latest Podcast
STARR Community Services International, Inc.
