"What the hell is going on in Chicago?" Donald Trump asked a group of law enforcement officers at the FBI Academy on Friday. "What the hell's happening there?"
Glad you asked, Mr. President.
What's happening here is that murders skyrocketed in big cities in the United States in 2016 and Chicago is a big city in the United States.
A 59 percent jump over the year before. Quite a lot, though other cities were worse—San Antonio jumped 61 percent.
Which means what? You can't judge anything with a statistic as narrow as one year's increase over another. On that scale, Orlando would be the Murder Capital of America, with 169 percent increase in 2016 over 2015, because of the Pulse nightclub massacre. Crime in Chicago is generally down.
If you look at a more significant statistic, the murder rate—the number of people killed per 100,000 residents—Chicago is behind St. Louis and Baltimore, Detroit and New Orleans, Cleveland and Newark and Memphis.
Not that it matters to the president. Trump doesn't keep bringing up Chicago to illustrate the knotty problem of urban crime, but to kick something at the headquarters of the FBI, an organization he had been kicking hard earlier that morning.
Glad you asked, Mr. President.
What's happening here is that murders skyrocketed in big cities in the United States in 2016 and Chicago is a big city in the United States.
A 59 percent jump over the year before. Quite a lot, though other cities were worse—San Antonio jumped 61 percent.
Which means what? You can't judge anything with a statistic as narrow as one year's increase over another. On that scale, Orlando would be the Murder Capital of America, with 169 percent increase in 2016 over 2015, because of the Pulse nightclub massacre. Crime in Chicago is generally down.
If you look at a more significant statistic, the murder rate—the number of people killed per 100,000 residents—Chicago is behind St. Louis and Baltimore, Detroit and New Orleans, Cleveland and Newark and Memphis.
Not that it matters to the president. Trump doesn't keep bringing up Chicago to illustrate the knotty problem of urban crime, but to kick something at the headquarters of the FBI, an organization he had been kicking hard earlier that morning.
Months ago, Trump claimed that a Chicago motorcycle cop told him he had a plan to end the crime in Chicago really fast.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen a Chicago cop on a motorcycle in over 10 years!
Now you might see them on a bicycle. Perhaps Trump can't tell the difference.
ReplyDeleteMy fear is that Trump will seek a distraction -- North Korea anyone? -- to deflect the focus he, himself, has directed towards the Mueller investigation. Now, I would welcome his turning attention to North Korea, were he to just up and wing it over to Pyongyang and schmooze the young dictator to death, what with his much vaunted negotiation skills. However, wars are more reliable distractions and what's a few million Korean lives worth as compared to Trump's legacy (ha ha).
ReplyDeletejohn
Trump's entire presidency, and constant campaign, has been one distraction after another. He fancies himself a master of misdirection. Sideshow Donald and his shell game. Thank God he's no good at it.
DeleteI don't know if this is the case with Trump specifically, but conservatives have spent years singling out Chicago crime, as though nobody ever got murdered in any other city, as a slap at Barack Obama. Obama is from Chicago, there are a lot of murders in Chicago, and that proves...something.
ReplyDeleteWell, I have to admit that it "proves" that local gun laws, no matter how restrictive in theory, are completely ineffectual in deterring gun use, though I'm sure they do manage to make lengthy prison sentences even lengthier for certain people.
Deletejohn
Trump & the Republicans are constantly claiming that Chicago has the country's most restrictive guns laws.
DeleteExcept that's an outright lie!
It used to be true, but all of those restrictions went away a couple of years ago, either due to the Supreme Court declaring one or more laws unconstitutional & the General Assembly passing the Concealed Carry Act, which eliminated all the rest.
The only gun laws now in effect in Chicago are the requirement for a FOID Card & there currently aren't any gun shops in the city, due to extremely restrictive zoning laws & those are currently being challenged & will also undoubtedly be declared unconstitutional soon.
But there at least two gun shops that are directly across the street from Chicago. One in Lincolnwood on Devon & I believe there's one in Elmwood Park on Harlem.