Gun violence in Chicago
Gun violence in Chicago has been an ongoing issue for many years now. In a city where many different cultures and communities meet each other, the violence rate is most of the time clearly higher. The best example for this is Chicago and the use of gun violence. At a rate of 29 firearm homicides per 100,000 residents, it is six times higher than New York City’s and three times higher than in Los Angeles. In 2020 alone, gun homicides increased 52%, resulting in 769 deaths. It has spread to all of the city like a pandemic and numbers are slowly decreasing but not enough. Around spring time in the span of one month before the pandemic, there were around 198 shootings in the month of May. In 2020 it was 338 and in 2021 it was 321. In 2022 it was 254.The numbers may be going down slightly however this is absurd for a one month span [1].
| Table of Contents |
| Gun Violence in Chicago |
| Area |
| Gun Laws |
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Recidivism |
| The Safer Foundation |
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Changes inside |
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References |
Area
Stats show that majority of the gun violence comes from the rougher areas of the city. The areas not many people tend to take care of or care about. This causes the youth to be more prone to involve themselves in the same type of violence that they had grew up around. Another chart here shows more statistics of gun violence in Chicago.
Gun Laws
Illinois has among the strongest gun safety laws in the country and low levels of gun ownership. Following the horrific mass shooting in Highland Park on July 4, 2022, lawmakers took action to address gun violence and enacted critical gun safety laws, including a prohibition on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Despite being a national leader in enacting gun violence prevention laws, Illinois continues to experience an unacceptable rate of gun violence. Illinois is surrounded by states with much weaker laws, and an outsized share of likely trafficked guns recovered in Illinois are originally purchased out-of-state—especially in Indiana, just across the border from Chicago. In recent years, Illinois has enacted gun dealer licensing, an improved The only change about gun violence in the year of 2024 is the ban on semi automatic weapons. The US Supreme Court has failed to take up the case of Illinois ban on the sale, possession or manufacture of automatic weapons.
Recidivism
Another issue the criminal justice system is faced with in Chicago, is the amount of recidivism that occurs. In an article written by a nonprofit newsroom named Injustice Watch, the authors stated that "Since 2019, over 20,000 people have been returned to prison while on parole for either a technical violation or a completely different charge, and more than 38% of all people released from prison will return within 3 years." This means that parolees are being rearrested frequently, and anyone who was once in prison has a fairly high chance of being convicted again.
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This graph shows staggering incarceration rates in Illinois compared to other countries worldwide. |
On January 1st, 2024, a new Bill signed by Governor Pritzker, went into effect to hopefully reduce the total number of inmates in Chicago prisons and jails. Bill 423 targets the parole system and the technical violations that parolees would be incriminated for. Some of the changes made include, "Urine tests can only be ordered if there is reasonable suspicion of illicit drug use and the basis of that suspicion is documented in the Department of Corrections' case management system" (Hancock Par. 6). The prisoner review board is also encouraged to reduce the parolee's supervision by 90 days if they earn some type of degree, diploma, or certificate, and parole officers are now allowed to conduct remote check-ins parolees.
The Safer Foundation
There are various agencies in the U.S. that work to solve the issues with recidivism, by offering different services to ex-inmates such as, therapy, mentorship, job training, education, and housing support. The Safer Foundation is an agency local to the Chicago area that was founded in 1972 with their mission stating, "to pave that road with stabilizing support, employment, education, and advocacy that empower justice-involved individuals to achieve their true potential". Safer Foundation provides a plethora of services to ex-inmates, currently incarcerated people, and anyone justice impacted. Some of these services are job placement, education and training, behavioral health services, therapy, legal assistance, housing support, transportation services, and other financial aids. Additionally here is a link to a podcast that talks about how organisations can help to reduce gun violence: https://rss.com/podcasts/marvs-gun-violence-podcast
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This infographic shows the number of current residents in the state, (by race) and how many of those residents are currently incarcerated. |
Changes Inside
Some people believe that due to the prison environments, it's difficult for inmates to build the life skills needed to become a productive member of society. One way to create change in a prisoner’s mindset is to introduce change while they’re incarcerated, so they have the tools needed when they are released.
This idea was actually put to the test in Billerica, Massachusetts, where they had a very similar issue to what Chicago is having now. In 2018, over half of the inmates that were released ended up coming back into the system after being released for only 3 years. In order to create a difference in these recidivism rates, Middlesex County Sherrif Peter Koutoujian believed that they should try a new approach to dealing with the socialization of inmates. They renamed the top floor of the prison People Achieving Change Together or for short- P.A.C.T. and designed it specifically for young adults to focus on "grown-up responsibilities and obligations, including mandatory anger management meetings, sessions with therapists and reporting to work or class every day" (Quinn Par. 4). They are also allowed more phone time and to physically sit with their families during meetings. After these small changes were made to multiple prisons in the neighboring areas, in 2021 it was recorded that Massachusetts' recidivism rate dropped to 30%.
References
[1] Asiegbu, Grace & Martinez-Smiley, Adriana, “Illinois Officials Invest in Reentry, Aim to Reduce Recidivism” Injustice Watch, 02/13/2023, Illinois Officials Invest in Reentry, Aim To Reduce Recidivism (injusticewatch.org), 02/20/2024.
[2] One aim Illinois “Importance of gun violence” One aim Illinois 11/07/2022 https://oneaimil.org/the-issue/impact-of-gun-violence/ 03/05/2024.
[3] John O’Connor 5Chicago Magazine, 12/31/2023 https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/laws-banning-semi-automatic-weapons-and-library-censorship-to-take-effect-in-illinois/3314809/ , 03/05/2024.
Hancock, Peter, "Gov. Pritzker signs bill overhauling mandatory supervised release" ABC 7 Chicago, 07/28/23, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signs bill overhauling mandatory supervised release - ABC7 Chicago , 02/07/2024
Quinn, Christina, “A New Approach To Incarceration In The U.S.: Responsibility”, NPR, 04/28/2018, A New Approach To Incarceration In The U.S.: Responsibility : NPR, 02/20/2024
https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/06/02/chicago-had-971-shootings-in-first-half-of-the-year-violence-is-trending-down-from-pandemic-peak-but-is-still-way-too-high-expert-says/
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-gun-violence-at-least-50-shot-6-fatally-so-far-this-weekend/2908844/
