Chicago Sees Significant Increase in Murder Cases

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Oct 13, 2020 06:40 AM EDT

The state of Chicago is seeing a significant increase in murder cases this year, according to data issued by the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

The CPD regularly updates statistics about crime in the city, posting weekly and yearly. Recent stats showed that murder cases have increased in the city. It doubles in the first week of October from the previous week with 15 murders.

The number of murders doubles compared to last year. However, the trend extends beyond the one-year comparison.

This year has seen the most number of murders over the past five years, with 596 murders so far. A report noted that from Oct. 9, it puts that number at 605. Last weekend, four people were reported dead in shootings.

The next-most numbers of murder cases was in 2016 with 565 murder cases. The recorded number then decreased over the following years, until 2020.

Meanwhile, robbery and aggravated battery also grew over the previous week. However, the year-to-year figures leaves the number either lower or around the same as in 2019.

Aside from the four dead people, reports noted that at least 41 were also wounded in weekend shootings. No one had been arrested for the shootings as of Monday.

Earlier reports also showed that homicides in the state of Chicago increased by 52 percent.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office reported that there have been 677 homicides so far this year, according to a September report. This is about 200 more than during the same period in 2019.

The huge majority of the homicides this year, which stood at 565, happened inside Chicago city limits. The medical examiner's office revealed at all but 92 of the victims were shot to death.

Of the 677 homicide victims, 521 were Black and 102 were Latino.

"Facing illnesses, facing deaths, facing also the higher rates of unemployment and loss of income in our communities has also, unfortunately, played a role in the levels of violence we've seen throughout the year," Katya Nuques, executive director of a community organization in the predominantly Latino Little Village neighborhood, said in a report.

Several residents of the state of Chicago have lost their jobs brought by the pandemic. The pandemic also widely affected people of color in the city. There have been more than 75,000 cases of COVID-19 in Chicago.

About 3,000 people have died with three in four deaths among people of color.

Demeatreas Whatley, a violence interrupter with the organization Cure Violence in the South Side neighborhood of Grand Crossing, said that his community feels "on edge" this year.

Whatley added that with bars and lounges closing earlier than usual due to COVID-19 regulations, people are meeting on blocks late at night. This makes them easier to become targets for shootings.

Whatley said people are not trying to go in the house as they congregate on these blocks.

Police Superintendent David Brown said violent offenders need to spend more time in jail in this city.