August deadliest month for Chicago in two decades
CHICAGO -- Chicago saw its deadliest month in two decades in August, recording 90 homicides for the month, the city’s police department said Thursday.
The last time the city recorded 90 killings in a month was August 1996, according to Chicago Police Department data. Last month, there were a total of 384 shooting incidents and 472 shooting victims, police said.
Chicago is on pace to have more than 700 homicides by the end of the year. The city hasn’t had more than 600 homicides in a year since 2003, and not more than 700 since 1998, according to records.
Police blamed the increase in violence on repeat offenders using illegal guns.
“The historical cycle of violence we have seen in some communities must come to an end,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement. “Repeat gun offenders who drive the violence on our streets should not be there in the first place, and it is time to change the laws to ensure these violent offenders are held accountable for their crimes.”
The 90 homicides for this August compared to 54 killed in the same month last year. Police said they made 18 percent more murder arrests this past month compared to August 2015. The department’s number of gun arrests this year is up 5 percent compared to the same time during 2015.
Johnson said a relatively small group of repeat gun criminals are responsible for the the vast majority of gun violence in the city, CBS Chicago reported. The department maintains a watchlist of sorts, called the “strategic subject list,” which relies on an algorithm to try to predict who is most likely to be involved in a shooting – either as the shooter or victim – by analyzing data such as gang affiliations, criminal records, past shootings, and previous contact with police.
“Most of our violence is driven by 1,400 individuals in this city. So until we hold these repeat gun offenders accountable for their actions, we’re going to continue to see this violence,” Johnson said.
The department said five districts on the city’s South and West sides account for the majority of the violence.
Overall this year, there have been more homicides in Chicago than New York City and Los Angeles combined, CBS Chicago reported.
“We also recover more guns than New York and L.A. combined, but that just shows you the proliferation of guns out here in the streets of Chicago,” Johnson said.