Cold Case: Solving Chicago’s Murder Wave Mystery

CHICAGO–On a chilly May evening in Chicago, Randall Young walked close to another teenage boy down the streets of West Englewood, a neighborhood riddled with crime. Turning down a familiar alley to take a shortcut home, the two were approached by a stranger who pulled a gun and shot both boys. The younger male was rushed to the hospital where his condition was stabilized. Young, who was shot both in the head and chest, was also rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately was pronounced dead about an hour after arrival.

Regrettably, this is not an uncommon story for the residents of South Chicago. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune regarding the crime spike earlier this summer, Dorothy Johnson’s 5-word statement to a reporter summed up the harsh reality of living in constant fear. “People ain’t neighbors no more,” said Johnson as she sat on her porch that peered out onto a street where a 4-year-old boy had been shot in a drive-by the previous afternoon. The eerie concept is harsh, but fact nonetheless, and consistently worsening as the year progresses. But though homicide in 2016 has exponentially risen in contrast to the past decade, crimes solved have dropped dramatically. The most compelling part of Randall’s story, in fact, is that his murderer has not been found. No suspects have been identified. No hope has been given to grieving family and friends. No follow-up from investigators whatsoever. Despite attempts from Young’s mother, April Campbell, to contact police in reference to possible leads that she had discovered herself, she received no call back. Ms. Campbell has become anther citizen left with only unanswered questions, namely why does relief from this crime wave seem so out of reach? To uncover the root causes of the dramatic upswing in Chicago homicides, several key factors are at play: homicide clearance rate stagnation, gun saturation and the culture of poverty.

Homicide Clearance Rate Stagnation

When observing a rising homicide rate, one would assume that the amount of homicides solved would rise as well, or at least stay within a relatively reasonable allowance. In 1991, a particularly deadly year for Chicago with 929 homicides, 741 of those cases were solved, rendering an 80 percent success rate for closing a case. The clearance rate calculation is based on the total homicide suspects charged divided by the total homicides. This number compares to 62 percent by nationwide police stations, according to an article by the Washington Post. Since then, the national rate has remained fairly consistent, but Chicago’s has plummeted, with less than 26 percent of homicides solved last year, and a staggeringly low 18.4 percent clearance rate for 2016. This inconsistency brings about questions regarding the initiatives of the police force and whether or not everything necessary is being done to solve, and possibly prevent, homicides.

The US Census Bureau estimates Chicago’s current population to be 2,720,546, making Chicago the third largest city in America behind New York City and Los Angeles. According to the NYPD and LAPD, New York City and Los Angeles have a combined total of 565 homicides to date. Both cities are facing a heightened number of homicides from last year, however their solved case rate remains at about 50 percent. As of August, Chicago police had cleared 1 in 5 homicides, and this number is projected to plummet even more by 2023, with a projected 9 out of 10 murders going unsolved.

Chicago PD does not discount these discouraging numbers, but gives an explanation for the decline in closed cases. Due to the nature of the majority of the homicides in Chicago (i.e. drug and gang related murders), witnesses are particularly reluctant to come forward. Advances in technology which were put in place to make an officer’s job easier, such as DNA evidence and video recording, has actually impeded their investigation because they are required to meet a higher burden of proof before criminal charges can be filed.

So what can be done to combat this growing gap in solving crimes? According to the Investigative Sciences Journal, there has yet to be a manner adopted in terms of reviewing cold cases. Evidence is often arbitrarily sent to crime labs with hopes of receiving workable results, and police departments lack manpower and funds to maintain a constant grip on past cases as well as new cases.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has pledged to hire 1,000 more officers and 200 more detectives within the next two years in hopes that a larger squad will counter the upswing in unresolved crimes.

“We will not succeed at turning back the rising tide of violence without changing and rebuilding critical relationships with residents, and especially with communities of color,” said Emanuel. However important community trust may be, this doesn’t seem to be the root issue here. This seems like an issue linked to police brutality and possibly turnover rate of officers, but not so much of unsolved crime.

The lack of manpower is important, but if officers are hired in masses, education and awareness of the higher burden of proof seems to be where the focus should lie. According to the city of Chicago website, the requirements for becoming an officer are 60 hours from an accredited college or university (which can be waived with active duty in the Armed Forces), a minimum age of 21, completion and a passing grade on the Police Officer exam, and completion and passing of the Police Training Academy. This sounds thorough enough, but Dean C. Angelo Sr., president of the police department’s largest union, explained that there has been a lack of detectives due to a buyout that promotes early retirement for health benefits, so these new officers are filling in where trained detectives should be operating.

So looking further into Randall Young’s murder case as well as the 72 percent of cases that are currently unsolved, perhaps the problem lies within the tenacity of the officers. The lack of commitment and follow-up for each crime is what’s driving criminals to see no consequences and prompt further corruption. State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins described Chicago’s current conditions as “a cyclical tsunami, all stemming from, I think, a systemic disregard and disrespect for constituents that police take a pledge to serve and protect”. Sen. Collins may be right on the money. In fact, only 36 death investigations have taken place in 2016, including zero investigations launched in August, which was recorded as Chicago’s deadliest month since 1996 with 92 homicides, according to Chicago Police Department statistics.

Because of this incredible aperture in solved crimes, as well as lack of preparedness of officers new to the force, families of victims have actually been asked to gather evidence to provide leads, just as Young’s mother has done. But in her case, there was no follow up, so who is to say that there has been in the other 700+ homicide cases this year?

It seems that the Chicago Police Department is falling quite short in areas that cannot afford inadequacies. It is imperative to the safety of the citizens that prepared officers and detectives are hired to ensure proper training and experience. The only way to lessen the rate of unsolved crimes is to hire practiced, fearless officers that are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to guarantee safety as well as provide closure for grieving families.

Gun Saturation

Acknowledging the gun saturation in Chicago is another key point in identifying why homicides are so prominent. Mike Sanford, a retired officer for the Chicago Police Department, recounted his time on the force and dealing with this particular obstacle.

“You have to understand that I’ve been gone for seventeen years, so things change,” Sanford said. “Back when I was working on the streets, about all we dealt with was illegal gun ownership. But it was essentially like trying to fill a barrel that’s riddled with holes. The more you put in the more comes out. It was one of those unending battles to try and locate and get a hold of guns that shouldn’t be on the street.”

To Officer Sanford’s point, gun saturation has existed in Chicago for decades, and though he has been off the force for nearly 20 years, current officers continue to face the impossible task of eradicating illegal weaponry.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the United States tops the list of countries by number of guns per capita with more guns in circulation than actual people. As of 2015, there are 112.6 guns per 100 residents, which is twice as many guns per capita as there were in 1968, totaling a staggering 300 million guns collectively.

And the most interesting, and quite frankly terrifying, part of these gun statistics is that nearly 60 percent of firearms recovered in Chicago were first bought in states that do not require Internet or gun show sales background checks, according to the City of Chicago.

Author John R. Lott, Jr. wrote an exhaustive analysis of crime rates and gun possession, and how permitting concealed weapons leads to a decrease in violent crime. The book, titled “More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws”, had contrasting results to what many believe would be the result of increasing gun ownership. Lott said in an interview with the University of Chicago that allowing citizens to carry guns, provided they have a license, would benefit the public by lowering crime because the type of person that would obtain a permit would be a law-abiding citizen without a criminal record and able to pass a mental health test.

With that theory in mind, observation of the strictest United States gun laws is imperative. California has the strictest gun laws to date, with regulations not limited to background checks and monthly purchasing limits. However, California is consistently at the top of the list of highest homicide rates across the U.S.. Of course, California has the largest population of over 39 million residents so it would only make sense that it tops the list, but with a rate of 4.8 murders per 100,000 residents according to the 2015 FBI Uniform Crime Report, California is slightly below the United States average of 4.9 and much lower than that of Illinois at 5.6 per 100,000 residents. Recently, President Elect Donald Trump claimed during the Presidential Debate that Chicago has the country’s toughest gun laws, but according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Chicago is ranked No. 8 out of the 50 states. Further, Chicago is surrounded by states that received a failing grade in terms of strictness due to not requiring background checks on private firearm sales, creating an easy avenue for Chicago citizens to purchase guns just outside of state boarders and return to the city undetected.

The National Journal additionally advocates for Lott’s findings with a 2013 analysis that revealed the six states with the lowest rates of gun-related crime also have moderately strict gun policies. But there are some inconsistencies, like the outliers with strict gun laws and high crime, such as Wyoming, or at the opposite end of the spectrum, Vermont and Washington with rather permissive gun laws and very low homicide rates. So it can be concluded that this segment alone cannot necessarily solely lead to lower violent crime across the U.S., much less Chicago.

The Culture of Poverty

The final consideration of Chicago high crime contributors is the culture of poverty and concentrated disadvantage. Five neighborhoods, amounting to one third of Chicago, host the majority of the city’s homicides and violent crime. The prevalence of gang members that plague the lower-income Chicago neighborhoods is absolutely not decreasing, and therefore the crime that corresponds will only continue to increase.

Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson claims that roughly 85 percent of gun violence is linked to gang affiliated individuals, which may explain a small portion of why homicides go unsolved. Mark Pardaen, a Sargent with the State of Texas Police Department, says that this is an issue in all major metropolitan cities.

“It’s the kids, usually 18 to 24, that are involved in gangs or drug related activity and drive-by shootings,” said Pardaen. “Those are the cases that often come back as unsolved because they are random shootings with no one around to tell the officers about it, and none of those kids want to be known as a ‘snitch’.”
Though Sgt. Pardaen could draw similarities to the obstacles facing Chicago, he ultimately concluded that it’s simply a different realm for the officers policing the Illinois streets.

“I was a detective in San Antonio for 20 of my 38 years in law enforcement, and our homicide clearance rate was about 80 percent. But the difference and, really, the bottom line is Chicago nearly doubles us in population size, has around five times the number of homicides, and only has about four officers per 1,000 residents. And obviously officers aren’t only dealing with homicides. That’s a tough hole to dig out of.”

Former High School principal, Liz Dozier, took notice of the perpetuation of gang activity in relation to low income areas and decided to take action. “People aren’t born gang members; It’s about a lack of hope or a lack of access,” said Dozier. “We have 45,000 young people between the ages of 16-24 who are not working and are not in school, and so some of our children, and they are children, right? They feel like they have no hope.” Dozier is currently the managing director of Chicago Beyond, a social advocacy and action group dedicated to improving educational attainment and increasing safety for young Chicagoans. Activists like Dozier are assessing the problems behind gang member affiliation, an important step and investment in the youth of poverty stricken areas of Chicago.

It’s an essential realization that violent crime cannot change by one action alone. With so many contributing factors to Chicago’s sizable homicide rate that must be acknowledged, analysis and understanding of how to combat the upsurge is equally as imperative. Examining the homicide clearance rate stagnation, gun saturation and culture of poverty goes hand-in-hand with assembling a more qualified police force able to combat these fixed elements, as well as cultivating the possibility for scholastic achievement of impoverished youth. Remaining mindful of both negative and positive causative dynamics could potentially help future families avoid the burden that April Campbell must carry forever because her only son was taken by preventable circumstances.