Chicago Street Journal -- September 30, 2017

February 2017
6 September 2017
Chicago Street Journal
Continued from Page 1
Getting Away With Murder.
What is the probability of you becoming a murder victim? Click HERE
to take the murder test.
Why is the "clearance rate" for murders so low?
According to most experts, investigations must be intensive, move fast,
and be organized. In a crime’s aftermath, the first 48 to 72 hours are the
most critical. But, in a metropolitan area, like Chicago or New Orleans,
where the murder rate is high and non-stop, how can a department give
its full attention to cold cases? And, when the case remains cold that
means that murderer remains free and a threat.
And, if only a fifth of the crimes committed are with legally registered
weapons, then there’s a possible connection. What should be the penalty
be for carrying an illegal firearm, given that statistics indicate that it is
very likely that it will be involved in a violent crime?
Also, police officials continue to insist that the community is the key to
solving crimes. When we help and harbor murderers and keep hushed on
crime, it is the same as giving our permission to remain under attack.
But in that same vein, who can provide protection to those who testify?
Who will be there to protect them and their families?
Thomas K. Hargrove of the Murder Accountability Project states that,
“Illinois trails all other states in catching killers.” Less than 40% of all
homicide cases in Illinois are cleared. It is also reported that Chicago
faired far worst, as it only solved about 30 percent of its murder cases in
2015. In a response to a question from The Scripps Howard News Service,
Hargrove indicated that, “The astonishing and disturbing pattern in
the FBI data set is the variation in how often murders get solved. There
are places in America where it is statistically unlikely for a killer to be
caught. If you want to get away with murder, go to places like Detroit,
Phoenix, Chicago or New Orleans. If you want to get caught, kill somebody
in Denver, San Diego or Philadelphia.”
Those getting away with murder continue to be a threat to society.
They’ve taken away the life and liberty of so many. Maybe we are the
key to halting the alarming rate of unsolved murders. Look to your left.
Look to your right. Look across the dinner table. Look in the mirror. You
may just see a murderer.
Sonja Cassandra Perdue is Associate Publisher for Chicago Street
Journal and Founder of Chicago’s Black Business Network.
With the number of cold cases reaching into the six figures, it is certainly
possible that via our sixth degree that we are all either related to or know
a murder.
Just a few murder stats for you murder fans.
A recent Center for Disease Control report indicates that 93 percent
of female murder victims were killed by former or current husbands,
boyfriends or lovers.
Over 90 percent of Black Americans are murdered by other Black
Americans.
Because of the increase in transgender deaths by murder, the community
is calling upon reporting agencies to enhance their tracking
methods and to begin keeping an accurate count of the number of
murders.
Police killed at least 309 Black people in the U.S. in 2016.
21 toddlers were shooters.
The World Health Organization states one person commits suicide about
every 40 seconds. This may well indicate that for some of us, we are our
own greatest danger.
With the call for major changes in the US immigration laws, you would
certainly think that the stats would weigh in heavily on keeping the terrorist
away from all of us. But, according to the New America Foundation,
jihadists killed 94 people inside the United States between 2005 and
2015. During that same time period, 301,797 people in the US were shot
dead, Politifact reports. According to data compiled from the Centers for
Disease Control, more people killed themselves by falling out of bed during
the same period (737) than were killed by Islamic jihadists.
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