I guess it's good to have a brick house
June 4, 2016 1:11 PM Subscribe
Rod Reeves, 42, turns on the spigot and shows how his garden hose, punctured by bullets, now leaks. In last week's three day Memorial Day weekend, 64 people were shot in Chicago, a city of 2.7 million. 6 died from their wounds. Prior to that, there had been 1,177 shootings this year, and some 28,000 citizen phone calls reporting gunfire.
I guess it's good to have a brick house
-- or a police force that isn't on secret strike because you want them to stop murdering minority citizens with impunity.
posted by jamjam at 1:39 PM on June 4, 2016 [35 favorites]
-- or a police force that isn't on secret strike because you want them to stop murdering minority citizens with impunity.
posted by jamjam at 1:39 PM on June 4, 2016 [35 favorites]
Is there an increase in environmental lead of which public health authorities are unaware?
posted by infinitewindow at 1:39 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 1:39 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
The worst thing about reading stories like this is the sheer helplessness you feel knowing that to solve the problem requires moving a god damn mountain. There are so many ancillary issues around gun violence that all need to be solved to both remove gun violence from a community and immunize a community to future gun violence.
We cut schools, we cut universities, we cut opportunities, we cut welfare, we cut help.
Then we act all fucking surprised and tut tut that people resort to less than savory means to survive in this fucked up country.
posted by Talez at 1:47 PM on June 4, 2016 [43 favorites]
We cut schools, we cut universities, we cut opportunities, we cut welfare, we cut help.
Then we act all fucking surprised and tut tut that people resort to less than savory means to survive in this fucked up country.
posted by Talez at 1:47 PM on June 4, 2016 [43 favorites]
That's before we even deal with the angry white men who come out in full force at any threat whatsoever to their metaphorical small dick enlargers.
posted by Talez at 1:47 PM on June 4, 2016 [15 favorites]
posted by Talez at 1:47 PM on June 4, 2016 [15 favorites]
I... I was on my way home from work yesterday and had to get off the bus to walk the last few blocks home because the police had blocked off the street.
I just looked it up. It was a murder, it had happened about 20 minutes earlier.
Fuck this.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:48 PM on June 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
I just looked it up. It was a murder, it had happened about 20 minutes earlier.
Fuck this.
posted by tivalasvegas at 1:48 PM on June 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
19 years since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 kicked in. I'm surprised that's never mentioned in any of the numerous "a lot more violence in the last year in a bunch of cities, isn't that weird?" stories we've been seeing lately.
posted by clawsoon at 2:03 PM on June 4, 2016 [17 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 2:03 PM on June 4, 2016 [17 favorites]
I'm surprised that's never mentioned in any of the numerous "a lot more violence in the last year in a bunch of cities, isn't that weird?" stories we've been seeing lately.
The only other option is a black person possibly getting a dollar they didn't "earn" and according to the American electorate that's a worse result than every gun death combined.
posted by Talez at 2:05 PM on June 4, 2016 [14 favorites]
The only other option is a black person possibly getting a dollar they didn't "earn" and according to the American electorate that's a worse result than every gun death combined.
posted by Talez at 2:05 PM on June 4, 2016 [14 favorites]
I like how he still carried on with his watering. How uniquely American!
posted by thelonius at 2:34 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by thelonius at 2:34 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Violence in Chicago has been going on for decades, it has sweet FA to do with politics.
posted by gsh at 2:34 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by gsh at 2:34 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Violence has everything to do with politics. The prime aim of society is to reduce violence, and the prime medium of action in complex societies is politics, and the US is a complex society.
posted by ambrosen at 2:46 PM on June 4, 2016 [27 favorites]
posted by ambrosen at 2:46 PM on June 4, 2016 [27 favorites]
-- or a police force that isn't on secret strike because you want them to stop murdering minority citizens with impunity.
This, a thousand times. We saw it in NYC too, when the cops all suddenly decided to stop doing their jobs because they were in a snit about being called out. Sorry you can't kill minorities at will anymore, but can you also do the job for which you are still being paid? Or quit? And don't tell me it's a few bad cops...those "few" are enabled by the ALL the rest.
posted by nevercalm at 3:13 PM on June 4, 2016 [20 favorites]
This, a thousand times. We saw it in NYC too, when the cops all suddenly decided to stop doing their jobs because they were in a snit about being called out. Sorry you can't kill minorities at will anymore, but can you also do the job for which you are still being paid? Or quit? And don't tell me it's a few bad cops...those "few" are enabled by the ALL the rest.
posted by nevercalm at 3:13 PM on June 4, 2016 [20 favorites]
I think it partially has to do with politics (war on drugs, for example), but no question that Chicago's violent crime rate increase predates any laws in the 90s by a few decades. In fact, Chicago crime decreased starting in the 90s until the last few years. There are a lot of factors and it's easy to read one's pet issue as the most significant one.
posted by michaelh at 3:15 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by michaelh at 3:15 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Violence in Chicago has been going on for decades, it has sweet FA to do with politics.
I'm having trouble parsing the idea that because violence has been happening for decades it must have nothing to do with politics. If the violence is happening because of poverty, a malfunctioning education system, systematic oppression, and/or the easy availability of lethal weaponry, these are all issues that can and should be addressed politically.
posted by dazed_one at 3:15 PM on June 4, 2016 [11 favorites]
I'm having trouble parsing the idea that because violence has been happening for decades it must have nothing to do with politics. If the violence is happening because of poverty, a malfunctioning education system, systematic oppression, and/or the easy availability of lethal weaponry, these are all issues that can and should be addressed politically.
posted by dazed_one at 3:15 PM on June 4, 2016 [11 favorites]
19 years since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 kicked in. I'm surprised that's never mentioned in any of the numerous "a lot more violence in the last year in a bunch of cities, isn't that weird?" stories we've been seeing lately.
I'm not surprised, since it looks like pointing out any relationship would be purely speculation. Especially considering that violence in the US dropped dramatically overall in that same time period. Then again, pure speculation seems to drive lots of public policy, so perhaps I should be surprised after all.
posted by 2N2222 at 3:40 PM on June 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
19 years since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 kicked in. I'm surprised that's never mentioned in any of the numerous "a lot more violence in the last year in a bunch of cities, isn't that weird?" stories we've been seeing lately.As bad as things are now, there's a lot less (like *a lot* less) violence in Chicago and other major cities now than there was in the early 90s. There were 931 murders in Chicago in 1994 and 488 murders in 2015. The population has gone down a little bit, but nothing like enough to account for that. Violence is up a lot this year, but I'm not sure what effect of welfare reform would magically kick in this year.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:02 PM on June 4, 2016 [9 favorites]
-- or a police force that isn't on secret strike because you want them to stop murdering minority citizens with impunity.
The dynamics of police and politics in Chicago is getting foregrounded even while all the major media players are seemingly desperate to avoid coming out and saying that there is a war on at City Hall. It looks like Rahm is throwing them to the wolves - finally.
There have been a number of stories in the last few weeks about really crappy details of the police contract that give them impunity, police overtime pay and the special interest politics to get first responders pensions sorted while still screwing over every other government union. The head of the Fraternal Order of Police pretty much openly declared if you want police to be subject to the law it is going to cost the city.
There was fire chief drunk driver in a single car accident 100% credulously reported as a two car incident despite no evidence other than the assistant fire chiefs statement made after he blew at something like three times the legal blood alcohol level the next morning when the fire department tested him. The fire chief was reported as having called a 'black phone' at 911 to avoid being recorded.
The new police oversight board just dumped a ton of videos of police violence onto the net. One of the most Chicago ones is an off duty cop working security giving a drunk a beat down at a Portillos for throwing a cup of cheese at him (it probably should be called a cup of replica cheese).
Then there was the article about cop overtime costing the city $100 million a year that the cops referred to as 'special enjoyment' rather than 'special employment' because they did so little.
The Federal investigation and the next police contract will be interesting. Shit is going on.
posted by srboisvert at 4:15 PM on June 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
The dynamics of police and politics in Chicago is getting foregrounded even while all the major media players are seemingly desperate to avoid coming out and saying that there is a war on at City Hall. It looks like Rahm is throwing them to the wolves - finally.
There have been a number of stories in the last few weeks about really crappy details of the police contract that give them impunity, police overtime pay and the special interest politics to get first responders pensions sorted while still screwing over every other government union. The head of the Fraternal Order of Police pretty much openly declared if you want police to be subject to the law it is going to cost the city.
There was fire chief drunk driver in a single car accident 100% credulously reported as a two car incident despite no evidence other than the assistant fire chiefs statement made after he blew at something like three times the legal blood alcohol level the next morning when the fire department tested him. The fire chief was reported as having called a 'black phone' at 911 to avoid being recorded.
The new police oversight board just dumped a ton of videos of police violence onto the net. One of the most Chicago ones is an off duty cop working security giving a drunk a beat down at a Portillos for throwing a cup of cheese at him (it probably should be called a cup of replica cheese).
Then there was the article about cop overtime costing the city $100 million a year that the cops referred to as 'special enjoyment' rather than 'special employment' because they did so little.
The Federal investigation and the next police contract will be interesting. Shit is going on.
posted by srboisvert at 4:15 PM on June 4, 2016 [12 favorites]
My question is who exactly are the third of Chicagoans who say they think the police are doing a good job? Police officers? People who are afraid that the cops are going to find out who answered the poll and target people who said the police were doing a bad job?
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:18 PM on June 4, 2016
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 4:18 PM on June 4, 2016
My question is who exactly are the third of Chicagoans who say they think the police are doing a good job?
The North Side all along the lake is very well protected. It's high density and incredibly safe - my neighborhood has something like 1 or 2 murders a year. The area is safer than Toronto, Canada on a per capita basis.
For some of these people highly concentrated crime in poor neighborhoods is a feature not a bug. My local councilor just blackmailed more police out of the city in exchange for voting with mayor's tax increase despite having one of the lowest crime rates in all of the city. Those were cops that should be in other more troubled areas.
posted by srboisvert at 4:37 PM on June 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
The North Side all along the lake is very well protected. It's high density and incredibly safe - my neighborhood has something like 1 or 2 murders a year. The area is safer than Toronto, Canada on a per capita basis.
For some of these people highly concentrated crime in poor neighborhoods is a feature not a bug. My local councilor just blackmailed more police out of the city in exchange for voting with mayor's tax increase despite having one of the lowest crime rates in all of the city. Those were cops that should be in other more troubled areas.
posted by srboisvert at 4:37 PM on June 4, 2016 [5 favorites]
Cause everybody dies in the summer
Wanna say ya goodbyes, tell them while it's spring
I heard everybody's dying in the summer
So pray to God for a little more spring
I know you scared
You should ask us if we scared too
If you was there
Then we'd just knew you cared too
posted by rtha at 5:06 PM on June 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Wanna say ya goodbyes, tell them while it's spring
I heard everybody's dying in the summer
So pray to God for a little more spring
I know you scared
You should ask us if we scared too
If you was there
Then we'd just knew you cared too
posted by rtha at 5:06 PM on June 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
We saw it in NYC too, when the cops all suddenly decided to stop doing their jobs because they were in a snit about being called out. Sorry you can't kill minorities at will anymore....
Former post 9/11 NYC cop turned journalist has an interesting take on NYC police from when he left about fifteen years ago and now.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:12 PM on June 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
Former post 9/11 NYC cop turned journalist has an interesting take on NYC police from when he left about fifteen years ago and now.
posted by IndigoJones at 5:12 PM on June 4, 2016 [2 favorites]
When I visited Chicago, I saw not a glimmer of violence. I stayed mostly in tourist areas, although I did accidentally find myself in the underground city, which was amazing. But the areas around museums and theatres and other places where most visitors will see, the city sure seemed safe. The only time I really got even a whiff of trouble was when I visited a jazz club in an area where my hotel staff recommended I not go alone. I had a lovely time, got to talking to the owner and other patrons, and when I was ready to go, we couldn't get a cab to come there, and they wouldn't let me go wander around to find one, so the owner's granddaughter got recruited to drive me back to the white folks preserve of art deco hotels and twee dining experiences.
My point is this, I like to think of myself as a social progressive with a radar tuned to injustice. But Chicago taught me that while I may not be blinded by my privilege, the amount of privilege with which I am surrounded is extraordinary. This Chicago, this land of gang violence and spiraling social decay, this land where a mother prays for prison to keep her son alive, this Chicago was invisible to me,just as it is invisible to most of white America.
The biggest city near me has had an 86% increase in homicides this year. Other large cities are also reporting huge spikes in violence. Our cities aren't burning, but for how long? Inequality begets rage. Rage begets violence. We, the privileged, and if you have time to fuck around on mefi, you count as privileged, must find ways to end the inequality. Run for school boards and make sure that schools are equal in all neighborhoods. Find libraries in poor neighborhoods and volunteer to shelve books or whatever, so the librarians have more time to interact with the patrons. Call out racism when you see it. Become a mentor, or a big brother big sister. Offer paid internships if you own a company that could train a future worker or business owner.
Can any single one of us stop the killing? No, but just maybe we can stop a single death.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 5:28 PM on June 4, 2016 [22 favorites]
My point is this, I like to think of myself as a social progressive with a radar tuned to injustice. But Chicago taught me that while I may not be blinded by my privilege, the amount of privilege with which I am surrounded is extraordinary. This Chicago, this land of gang violence and spiraling social decay, this land where a mother prays for prison to keep her son alive, this Chicago was invisible to me,just as it is invisible to most of white America.
The biggest city near me has had an 86% increase in homicides this year. Other large cities are also reporting huge spikes in violence. Our cities aren't burning, but for how long? Inequality begets rage. Rage begets violence. We, the privileged, and if you have time to fuck around on mefi, you count as privileged, must find ways to end the inequality. Run for school boards and make sure that schools are equal in all neighborhoods. Find libraries in poor neighborhoods and volunteer to shelve books or whatever, so the librarians have more time to interact with the patrons. Call out racism when you see it. Become a mentor, or a big brother big sister. Offer paid internships if you own a company that could train a future worker or business owner.
Can any single one of us stop the killing? No, but just maybe we can stop a single death.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 5:28 PM on June 4, 2016 [22 favorites]
I think these sorts of stories are about "look at the violent minorities." Chicago is not in the top 30 most violent US cities. Breitbart ran a story on December 31st that said New York City murder rate was up 20% in 2015 over 2014 (near the bottom of this story). It was up 4% and 2014 was the lowest in 50 years (the link they reference is New York Post from June when the rate did spike a bit - and then went down). Don't support racist journalism.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:38 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:38 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Chicago is not in the top 30 most violent US cities.Maybe not technically, but two of the cities on that list are in the Chicago metro area.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:25 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
Sorry, that was overly fighty. It's definitely worth pointing out that, for example, homicides in Chicago this decade are lower than they have been in almost 50 years.
posted by mbrubeck at 7:29 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by mbrubeck at 7:29 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]
mbrubeck: ...homicides in Chicago this decade are lower than they have been in almost 50 years.
This decade, yes. But this past year, a whole bunch of cities have seen an increase in violence. Might be a coincidence, might be a blip, might not be.
posted by clawsoon at 7:48 PM on June 4, 2016
This decade, yes. But this past year, a whole bunch of cities have seen an increase in violence. Might be a coincidence, might be a blip, might not be.
posted by clawsoon at 7:48 PM on June 4, 2016
Chicago Homicides Outnumber U.S. Troop Killings In Afghanistan
Link
posted by xammerboy at 9:04 PM on June 4, 2016
Link
posted by xammerboy at 9:04 PM on June 4, 2016
I think these sorts of stories are about "look at the violent minorities." Chicago is not in the top 30 most violent US cities. Breitbart ran a story on December 31st that said New York City murder rate was up 20% in 2015 over 2014 (near the bottom of this story). It was up 4% and 2014 was the lowest in 50 years (the link they reference is New York Post from June when the rate did spike a bit - and then went down). Don't support racist journalism.
Sorry but the Chicago murder spike this year is pretty damn real and with hot summer days coming it is going to get even more real. Not only that it is concentrated in minority dominated neighborhoods to the extent that those neighborhoods are probably not experiencing the drop in violent crime that everyone else is. Ignoring the racial component also means you are ignoring that it is minorities who are being victimized and utterly failed by the police.
posted by srboisvert at 11:49 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Sorry but the Chicago murder spike this year is pretty damn real and with hot summer days coming it is going to get even more real. Not only that it is concentrated in minority dominated neighborhoods to the extent that those neighborhoods are probably not experiencing the drop in violent crime that everyone else is. Ignoring the racial component also means you are ignoring that it is minorities who are being victimized and utterly failed by the police.
posted by srboisvert at 11:49 PM on June 4, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yes, and the point is not whether one city or another spikes. Some cities have dropped over the last year (and yes, the overall rate has gone up, but not in a crazy spike). In part, it's looking at blips to prove an argument: minorities are so dangerous or trying to zing Rahm Emanuel as a surrogate for zinging Obama, or pushing the narrative that Obama or Black Lives Matter have undermined the police.
In the past twenty-some years, homicide rates in urban areas have greatly dropped (while rural areas have been greatly increasing).
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:23 AM on June 5, 2016
In the past twenty-some years, homicide rates in urban areas have greatly dropped (while rural areas have been greatly increasing).
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:23 AM on June 5, 2016
2N2222: I'm not surprised, since it looks like pointing out any relationship would be purely speculation.
The explanation I've seen offered most often is that violent crime is going up in the past year because police are scared of being recorded on cellphone cameras. I suspect that my baseless speculation is just as good as theirs. :-)
posted by clawsoon at 9:35 AM on June 5, 2016
The explanation I've seen offered most often is that violent crime is going up in the past year because police are scared of being recorded on cellphone cameras. I suspect that my baseless speculation is just as good as theirs. :-)
posted by clawsoon at 9:35 AM on June 5, 2016
My parents and sister rarely visit me because to get from their suburban enclave to my idyllic block in Logan Square you have to traverse some sketchy neighborhoods. Mostly the heroin highway. In fact I don't want my parents driving it because of the idiot high suburban kids who come to that neighborhood to score. Yet a mile north I walk my dog and my neighbors are picnicking in the park outside my door. Chicago is a city of neighborhoods indeed. I heard some analysis a few years ago that the gun violence problem existed because the police had done too good a job. They took out the top of the drug pyramid and now the kids have no leadership and all the gangs are fighting each other for supremacy. Now the police aren't working because of the backlash over Laquan McDonald. This is all anecdotal FWIW, but I'll continue to walk my dog in quiet Palmer Square Park. But I do wish my beloved city would calm down.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 9:35 AM on June 5, 2016
posted by MarvinTheCat at 9:35 AM on June 5, 2016
It is literally 2 different cities, yes. A few years ago a close friend was shot while walking down the street; so I had the experience, as a white woman, of getting a glimpse for the first time of what half of my neighbors and friends deal with every day. It's a different reality and a tragedy, and I don't really have the right words to talk about it. There's no way for me to talk about it without either getting angry or sounding pretty trite, but it was a profound moment in my life in this city and my understanding of white supremacy and racism as a whole. And even more profound for my friend, who went out to lunch with an old family friend and ended up in the hospital for months, at the brink of death for weeks, and still can't walk. And he was one of 5 people shot non-fatally that same winter afternoon. Every throwaway line in the newspaper like that makes me want to cry thinking of the families and friends in the waiting room of the trauma icu at Stroger where I spent so much time, and of the lives literally ruined and wasted by this shit.
posted by jeweled accumulation at 1:57 PM on June 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by jeweled accumulation at 1:57 PM on June 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
I like how he still carried on with his watering. How uniquely American!
It's now a soaker hose!
posted by Jacqueline at 2:49 PM on June 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
It's now a soaker hose!
posted by Jacqueline at 2:49 PM on June 5, 2016 [1 favorite]
« Older Horse yoga | WANTED: sick ass guitar solo for while I do karate... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by Existential Dread at 1:37 PM on June 4, 2016 [1 favorite]