Chicago on track for deadliest year in nearly 2 decades

The city of Chicago is witnessing its deadliest start to a year in nearly two decades -- 102 people have been killed and 475 people were shot in the city since January 1st.

The official police homicide count sits at 97, which includes only murders as opposed to what police consider justified homicides such as self-defense. 2016 is the most violent start to a year in the city since 1997, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"The level of violence is unacceptable and CPD continues to aggressively target those responsible, especially in neighborhoods where gang activity is most active," CPD spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi wrote in an email.

Police blame some of the surge in violence on gang conflicts and retaliatory crimes, many of which officers now say begin on social media before spilling out onto the streets.

A recent study by the University of Chicago Crime Lab concludes that combining the high level of gun carrying in Chicago with impulsive behavior and drug use has also contributed to the extreme bloodshed. Last year over 7,000 guns were recovered from the streets of Chicago--more than New York and Los Angeles combined--according to police.

To complicate matters, the hubs of Chicago's crime, the city's west and south sides, potentially have become even more dangerous as the so-called "Ferguson Effect" is impacting how police patrol the streets. Analysts say officers are engaging less out of a fear of lawsuits or being labeled racist. Even Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in October 2015 that officers have become "fetal."
Adding to the Ferguson Effect, the Chicago Police Department is also dealing with an "ACLU effect." In an exclusive new agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union, Chicago Police officers are now required to fill out a two-page contact card after every engagement ranging from a simple ID check to an arrest.
"They don't want to be the next headline," Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President, Dean Angelo, told Fox News. "It's the amount of the above and beyond type of activity that officers were engaged in that we may not see at that same level ever again."
The ACLU, however, denies its contact cards have anything to do with Chicago's violence and tells Fox News since March 1st officers are filling out a more streamlined report with changes made based on police feedback. In response to the skyrocketing crime CPD has formed a Gun Violence Task Force, teaming up with the Cook County Sherriff's office and other local and federal agencies including Homeland Security.
Another common complaint heard in Chicago is that its judicial system is soft, especially in comparison to a city like New York where people reportedly drop their weapon and run from police. Dart says the task force will look into a potential gap between police and the state attorney's office. "People in New York know they're going away if they get locked up with a gun. Here, it's happened before and I'm back out. I make bond and I'm back out," Angelo said. "There's really no serious repercussion and I hope that changes."
Police say the increased enforcement is already seeing results: since the middle of February, gun arrests are up by 43%, and for the entire month of February, arrests for murder are up by more than 40% from last year.

Related threads, don't agree on certain points, such as whether gun arrests are up or down, but Chicago probably doesn't know. Exclusive: Poverty up, services diminished in Chicago's black neighborhoods - study

Police: Homicides rise in Chicago; illegal gun seizures fall

MORE THAN 40 MURDERS, 160 SHOOTINGS IN CHICAGO IN FEBRUARY, CPD SAYS

All Democrats can do is provide billboards and slogans.

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