DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Chicago's children caught in the crossfire: Alarming number of minors shot or killed in violence-plagued city

Chicago's children caught in the crossfire: Alarming number of minors shot or killed in violence-plagued city

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/08/31/chi...agued-city.html

Sixteen-year-old Damarcus Wilson was the first to die. Nine days after the new year, Wilson was walking with his 17-year-old friend on a frigid and foggy Chicago night. It was around 8:30 p.m. when someone in a dark-colored vehicle opened fire. A single bullet hit the teenager in the back - ending his life within minutes.

A month later, Larenzo Smith, 15, was walking in his south Chicago neighborhood around 5:20 p.m. when someone approached him and started shooting. Smith was hit in the chest and taken to Comer Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

As Chicago’s crime rates live up to their national notoriety, a closer look at the problem reveals an alarming number of minors are being shot or killed in the crossfire. Grieving families and fractured communities often feel like they’ve been forgotten by authorities when investigations dry up and no one is held accountable for the violence. Hurt siblings, relatives and friends, unable to cope, sometimes turn toward crime themselves as the cycle continues.

“We can’t survive another year of mayhem,” Rep. Danny K. Davis, D-Ill., told Fox News. “The stress and strain of it is so great. Everyone seems to be on different pages and there are constant crosses and difficult situations to bear.”

Each month this calendar year, at least one minor has been shot and killed in Chicago. In every month, there have been multiple shootings.

According to data compiled by The Chicago Tribune, since September 2011 at least 174 people under the age of 17 have been killed while 1,665 kids have been shot.

In 2017 alone, 246 kids under the age of 17 were shot. One of the youngest victims was two-year-old Lavontay White Jr., who was shot dead on Valentine’s Day along with his uncle, Lazaric Collins, 26 in a gang attack. Collins was the intended target, police said at the time.

The violence, police say, is primarily fueled by gangs. The shootings, residents counter, are a byproduct of individuals facing and normalizing poverty as well as a lack of resources.

Locals also say they are frustrated with the pace of progress in criminal investigations.

What remains is a breeding ground for mistrust that fosters ill will, hostility and suspicion on both sides.

“It’s disheartening,” Davis, who moved to Chicago in 1961, said. “It seems as though over a period of time, the population has lost a great deal of hope. Kids are shooting one another out there on the streets.”

That’s what happened when Kenwon Parker attended a community basketball game in Chicago’s Garfield Park. One day before his 16th birthday, Parker and another 14-year-old were shot by a gun-toting 13-year-old assailant.

“They took my baby! They took my baby,” Parker’s mother Keyoner Westbrook screamed as family members and friends had to keep her from sinking to her knees on the sidewalk. “I’ve got to bury my son…I’ve got to bury my son instead of celebrating his birthday!”

On July 25, a three-year-old girl was walking down the street with her father when a man came up to them and started shooting. The toddler was shot twice in the leg. Her father, a documented gang member and purported target of the violent encounter, was also hit.

“We heard gun shots and I saw the little girl drop, so I ran towards her for first aid,” witness Jamie Perez told reporters at the scene.
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Neighbor Veronica Shirley lamented: “It’s sad because children aren’t allowed to be children. They’re not allowed to walk with their parents, they’re not allowed to enjoy their life. You know, they’re in the middle of what’s going on out here in this world. These innocent babies have nothing to do with it.”

The violence has gotten so bad that state Rep. Melissa Conyears-Ervin says she doesn’t allow her two-year-old daughter to ride her bike outdoors.

The majority of Chicago shootings take place in the city’s south and west sides - areas not only marked by deteriorating neighborhoods but that also lack quick, efficient emergency care. Shooting victims are often shuttled to larger hospitals but some, like Comer Children’s Hospital, have adapted their trauma centers to accommodate Chicago’s combat-zone like conditions.

After a particularly bloody weekend in early August, Mt. Sinai’s emergency room was shut down for several hours after an overload of bodies were brought in. At least 75 people were shot – 12 killed –including four juveniles, ages 17, 14, 13 and 11. The same hospital went into lockdown in May after a riot broke out in its lobby.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is up for reelection in February and facing strong criticism over his handling of crime, visited the hospital to thank doctors and nurses. Despite the gesture, community activists say the bloodletting will only stop when there is real, meaningful change. That includes restoring broken families, bringing jobs to the area and building the tattered relationship with authorities.

For its part, Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says the department plans to hire an additional 300 homicide detectives by the end of 2018.

“We have been making considerable investments,” he said.

For now though, it seems the bitterness is still there.

Of the 75 people who were shot during the early August bloodbath, only one person has been charged in connection to any of the shootings.

“(Chicago police) don’t care about us,” resident Angie Johnson told Fox News. “They could start by solving these shootings and showing they give a s***.”

End the drug war and put a large dent in violence in the inner cities. Legitimizing the drug trade would diminish the role that organized crime, cartels, and gangs play in distribution.

Without a solid role to play in the distribution chain, it would dramatically reduce the profitability of black market sales.

Without the steady stream of revenue, the ability to procure weapons, incentivize the murder of rivals, "snitches," or civilians, and protect lucrative sales areas would no longer be possible. At a certain point, it wouldn't even be necessary...

The amount of issues that could be resolved just by changing our drug policy is absolutely staggering....

The drug war has created way more problems than it has solved......and realistically, it hasn't really solved anything....

Let's hire more police and law enforcement in an area where many people lack means to find meaningful stable employment, and tell them they just need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps to deal with institutional racism.

Every problem blacks face is the fault of the white man. Blacks are always the victims. Not one of them are bad people.

You guys.........on both sides........kill me.

This tribal thinking is backwards. It's time to look at all individuals as individuals and stop assigning labels to entire groups of people and excusing poor behavior on both sides.

And you know what.........I get that all the white righteous dudes won't like my message and all the black excuse makers and white haters won't like my message, but I don't care. You both suck.

There are good and bad people in all races.

You know these critical thinkers actually think this is a good idea.

J/C:



--Martin Luther King Jr

Comparing the white moderates of today w/the white moderates of the early 1960s while ignoring the culpability of the blacks shooting each other and their very own children is the epitome of critical thinking.

Who is ignoring that?

My critical thinking skills allow me to conclude that posting a quote from the 1960s to make a point about what is currently transpiring in Chicago is a deflective measure intended to draw attention away from the more immediate problem.

I have a legit question on the killing in Chicago. What is going on there that makes it more dangerous than most other major cities? I'm not that well informed because I haven't really tried to delve into this. Are other major cities like NY, LA, etc. on par with the same stats or is there something horribly wrong in Chicago that I am missing? If anybody can provide sensible details and reasons I'd like to hear it without all the research.

I really don't know the answer to your question. I only replied to this thread because I saw extremists from both sides posting on it. LOL

Again, you cannot critically think without trying to imagine the bigger picture. My point was more about the performative outrage of certain posters, but mainly of Fox News, who have never labeled children such as Laquan McDowell, Trayvon, Tamir, and the many other children killed by the police. Do you really think that the 60's and the modern day are nothing alike? Some of the systemic problems have been erased, but many remain. Do you not remember listening to Dr. King in his Washington March? "We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horror of police brutality." Do you know or did you at least think of the possibility that Chicago has the most cops on the street in America? What do you expect more cops to do? What do you think would happen if the federal guard took it over? Do you think that sheer dominating will and muscle can overpower anything?

It sounds better if you say "think critically" rather than "critically think."



Of course not. That is why battle w/guys like Vambo on one side and guys like you on the other.

Just so you know, I didn't even read Vambo's article. Just as I don't read a lot of articles that OCD, Swish, and 40 post. I already know what the articles are going to say because of who posts them.

I oppose thinking that is intended to divide, label, and discriminate. Can you imagine how productive humans would be if they put in even half the effort of uniting rather than dividing?

Chicago's homicide rate has been dropping year after year. It's used as a dog whistle and used as a constant talking point. Right now, its homicide rate sits lower than Cleveland, with St. Louis and Baltimore topping the rankings. I wonder why, the two murder capitals, had violent riots dealing with police brutality? "Riots are the language of the unheard." MLK. Even looking back, Gary Indiana usually has a very similar murder rate with Chicago, despite how often Indiana is controlled by Republicans.

Yeah, man if only there was an economic solution to this....

Also the concepts of critical thinking and thinking critically are completely different. One solves problems, the other leads to conspiracy theories.

Pop quiz.. what was the name of the cop who killed Trayvon?

Good catch. My mistake.

Robocop.

Fox News calls him the Hispanic Paul Blart.

Here's a solution:

maybe those people should take more interest and responsibility for where they live and become law enforcement?

-It's gainful employment,
-doesn't require an extraordinary amount of education, as a minority affirmative action is in full effect and extra dispensation will be made to get you through the hiring process,
-seeing as skin color is the first and seemingly most important factor in whether or not someone "understands" you, you'll always find a friend when you call 911, not an enemy
-the more minorities wearing the badge the less racist whitey's that will be on your streets resulting in the wanton executions of unarmed black children dropping to exactly zero
-and the more involved they get with the "institution", the less racist it will become because minorities can't be racist



The solution is right in front of everyone's faces and is stupid easy attainable.

so your solution is not to reform law enforcement, but instead make everyone who has a problem with them cops?

you guys willingly signed up to be held to a higher standard. how bout we first start making those who are ALREADY cops meet that standard.

Thanks, and I trust your response as factual so that is good enough for me at this point. Dog whistle.

I normally hate answering a question with a question, but what's wrong about inviting people to become part of the solution? That doesn't mean reforms can't or shouldn't be made where necessary. It doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't hold cops to the higher standard you talk about.

Part of the racial narrative in the broader context is that white people can't understand what it's like to be black. Ok, fair enough. Now what? I can't reform the color of my skin. And if that point is going to be repeatedly illustrated, the only solution as I see it is to get more people who can understand in the game.

I don't know man, maybe by view point on somethings is skewed by the fact that my job is to be proactive about solutions. That's just how I am when presented with a problem and it's fairly or unfairly something I guess I tend to project on to other people.

I wonder a few questions about this entire topic.

Who in this thread ever talked to someone in a gang, had a non-combative conversation with them, and asked their motivation for gang membership?

Has anyone in this thread asked the opinion of the oppressed community for their opinion to fix the violence?

People can only liberate themselves if the oppressor gives them enough space to find freedom.

sorry but thats not gonna work.

law enforcement would probably have a lot easier time recruiting minorities if there wasnt a very clear history of abuse by law enforcement in those communities to begin with.

i would agree if we're talking about law enforcement and communities meeting half way to solve problems. but thats not what you're offering up.

put it this way. lets use me for an example. i have a sever distrust of law enforcement. why in god's name would i ever sign up to be a cop? by your logic, i should be a cop, only to then be essentially directed to enforce civil forfeiture laws, something that i also dislike.

so you want people who already dont like law enforcement to join said law enforcement and enforce laws they despise.

say that out loud. now i'm sure you'll understand why i think thats a bad idea. being a cop doesn't change the law.

i mean come on bro. that would be like telling a trump supporter that if they dont like muslims, they should go to a mosque and covert religions so they know what its like to be part of a solution.

you're only gonna cause more problems.

Several years ago I worked at a factory that was mostly black workers. We had a black police officer who also worked there, but not with us, just for the police presence - we needed him there.

One of my coworkers - a black girl - told me she didn't like him and I asked her why. She said, "Because he's a (rhymes with witch)." It kinda shocked me. I asked her why she said that about him, he seemed like a cool guy and she said, "Because he arrests our people."

That was her mentality.

I'll hit you up in the a.m. You ask a good question that doesn't have an easy answer.

have a good shift bro and be safe

Why ask those questions when you know that I used to work w/gang members?

There's more people in this thread.

jc-

In both Gary, Indiana and in Chicago the violence is almost all related to black gangs fighting over turf and it's the same gangs in both cities. Gary is not a place you want to stop over at and you really don't want to get lost on the west and south side of Chicago. In Chicago, they don't even report half the crimes on the west side because the cops won't go in there because they know they will get shot at.

Don't talk about cop brutality in areas where they are not even safe to help people from their patrol cars.

I would stay out of the area from West Congress Way south to 57. A lot of people dying there right now. The rest of Chicago aint that bad though. Just walk a bit faster if you see any beggars because they are as likely to kill you as take a donation.

Absolutely for most of this. A few things I'd like to clear up though.

Yes, the goal of all civil services should be that their workers should live in the district they teach, patrol or work in. Especially the first two. Community policing is a very important piece in modern policing techniques.

It is gainful employment. However, how will this help employment for communities? I really don't know? How many cops are usually in a precinct for a city vs a town? I will say every bit helps. However, if the goal of policing is to reduce crime, then hopefully we won't need as many as policemen. That's especially true in Chicago, where they have 44 cops per 10k citizens, and are relentlessly growing their police force and making gigantic investments into their police (120 mil Police academy). What is the end goal?

I'm not sure if you're being tongue in cheek about the minorities can't be racists. How many police shootings have we seen that involved minorities? Quite a bit. If the training they receive condition them into thinking that everyone is a probable threat, they could easily receive excessive force complaints and partake in racist police tactics (Stop and frisk, etc.,). I'm not sure that just hiring minorities will fix the institutional problems. Although I do agree that people in institutions can fix things, however they usually come gradually and slowly at that.

Those are just my thoughts though.

Chicago can barely hire teachers as it is but you want to demand that they go live in the ghetto and get shot too? Good luck with that. Good luck getting cops to live in neighborhoods they don't even like to drive through in a patrol car because they will get shot or molotov.

You rightfully say that it's mostly blacks getting shot by cops. It's not because of racism though. It's because it's mostly black gang violence and they hate the cops to the point they shoot at them as easily as look at them. It's a war zone and to be honest they ought to call in the national guard and sweep the entire south side of Chicago for a few months. It certainly doesn't help that half the judges are paid off and just let half the guys the cops arrest right back out on the street again.

It's gotten really bad over the last 5 years. I hate when I have to drive there to pick up the wife and kids from the international airport because if you break down going through there your in a world of hurt.

I dont really know much about Chcago, have never been any closer than spending a couple days in Joliet and going to Gary Indiana a couple times for games in college.So I do not know the layout of the city, or the socioeconomic breakdown.

SO why is Chicago so bad right now, or is it really no worse than any other of the big cities but for some reason it is getting more attention?

Well, more police probably really isnt the answer, and some will probably say education, but I would be willing to bet that if you look , Chicago is probably spending more per child on education than most other districts in the area, even the ones that way outperform them.

Tougher gun laws? Chicago has some of the toughest.

So I am baffled to what the issue is

Ask away, does former count? Or does my voice, as an adult who survived and got away from the hood and gang life not count because I am white?

I will say this, most of what you see on TV and Movies about gangs is BS, or an extreme representation

Let me lay it out for you:

Chicago is not a dangerous city. Just as with all cities, there are PARTS of Chicago that are dangerous.


The chief of police, a week or 2 ago, laid it out: We know what the problem is. We know who's doing the killing. It's gang crime.



He's right. Problem is, no one wants to rat anyone out. Snitches get stitches. It's that mentality that is hurting the neighborhoods.

What do they want the cops to do? Cops show up at a murder, or a shooting They ask witnesses: What happened? Who did it? And the people say "I don't know nothing."

What are the cops to do if there is no cooperation from the citizens?

Awesome! Your race doesn't matter. Tell us all, how did YOU get away from the gang life?

I have always kind of avoided really saying a whole lot on this forum and others because it is not something I ever wanted to come across as bragging or showing off and I guess to a certain extent I didnt want to be judged , because I know how people can be , especially when heated battles get going .

But the simple answer is going to be kind of cliche, I was a pretty good athlete in HS and that took up some of my time and kept me away from the streets sometimes. And when I got out of HS I went away for a couple years and played some D2 football. When I came home, I started seeing my first wife who I had known before I left and stayed friends with and her father was a Cleveland Cop who retired about that time, after 30 years on the force, and he was the type who seemed to know EVERY damn cop in the city of Cleveland and half the suburbs. So basically her and her family took me off the streets and showed me more of a suburb life. I still remember the look her father gave me the first time she brought me home. With my Chicago Bulls Trench coat ,and... nah the rest is embarasing LOL. Damn, thinking back is embarassing to think about how dumb I looked in my gang banger apparel. He looked at me the way I look at these kids with their pants hanging down their ass today. LOL

3 Dead, at Least 14 Wounded in Labor Day Weekend Shootings
Three people were killed within the first 14 hours of the Labor Day weekend

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/ch...-492285321.html

At least three people have been killed and 14 more have been wounded in shootings across the city of Chicago this weekend.

The city’s first fatal shooting occurred just before 3 p.m. Friday afternoon, when three people were shot in the 800 block of East 65th Street.

According to police, the individuals were standing on a sidewalk when a man walked up and opened fire, striking all three victims.

An 18-year-old man was shot in the chest and head, and was later pronounced dead. A 27-year-old man was also shot in the lower back, and was taken to University of Chicago Hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.

A third victim, a 24-year-old woman, was taken to the University of Chicago in stable condition. No suspects are in custody.

Another fatal shooting occurred just before 4 a.m. in the 5100 block of West Maypole, according to police. Two men were standing outside when a person wearing a mask walked up to them and opened fire, striking both victims.

A 32-year-old man was shot in the neck, and was later pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital, while a 23-year-old man was shot in the wrist. He was taken to Loretto Hospital in good condition.

No one is in custody in connection with the shooting.

Just 20 minutes later, another fatal shooting occurred in the 700 block of North Central, according to police. A 30-year-old woman was standing with a group of people in an alley when someone fired shots at the group, and she was struck in the back of the head.

She was pronounced dead at the scene. Police are unsure if she was the intended target, and are still investigating.

On Sunday, a 24-year-old man was walking in the 2700 block of West 25th Street when he was shot in the hip and abdomen, according to police. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition.

Another man is in critical condition at Christ Hospital Sunday after he was shot in the 900 block of West 129th Place just after 4 a.m., according to police.

Officers responded to a call of an injured person, and when they arrived on the scene they found the man lying in the street with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Officers saw a man walk away from the body and then drive away, but they were unable to apprehend him after he jumped out of the vehicle and fled on foot.

Here are the rest of the weekend’s shootings:

Friday:



A 31-year-old man was shot in the lower right thigh, according to police. The man, who was shot in the 4300 block of West Gladys, was taken to a local hospital in good condition.

In the 800 block of West 59th Street at approximately 11:27 p.m., a 41-year-old man was driving when two men walked up to his vehicle and fired shots, striking him multiple times. The man then drove himself to St. Bernard Hospital, where he was listed in serious condition.



Saturday:



A 37-year-old man was shot in the forearm and suffered a graze wound to his finger when he was walking in the 4300 block of West Cermak, police said. The man was listed in good condition at Mount Sinai.

In the 5200 block of West Lake, a 20-year-old man was shot in the abdomen. He is in stable condition, and is not cooperating with police.

A 37-year-old man is in serious condition after he was shot while driving eastbound on the 3200 block of East 82nd Street at 7:24 p.m., police said. The man was hit in the neck and body when a person in a light colored SUV opened fire, and he was rushed to Christ Hospital in serious condition.

In the 900 block of North Harding just after 8:30 p.m., a 19-year-old man was shot in the right hand, and was taken to Mount Sinai in good condition, according to police.

Just before 11 p.m., a 20-year-old man was sitting in a vehicle in the 6300 block of South Francisco when a person in a black pick-up truck fired shots at him, striking him in the neck. The man was taken to Christ Hospital in stable condition, police said.

Sunday:

Two men are in serious condition after they were shot in the 10800 block of South Princeton, police said. A 20-year-old man was shot twice in the back, while a 21-year-old was struck in the face and body. Both men were taken to Christ Hospital, and neither man was able to provide details of the shooting.