Murder rates are declining in most American cities
ON A HOT Wednesday afternoon the office of Chicago CRED, a charity run by Arne Duncan, a former secretary of education, is bustling. In the car park and inside, dozens of workers dressed in bright vests reading “Peacekeeper” are milling around. Each morning they gather at the squat building off 103rd Street in Roseland, a neighborhood on the far South Side, to exchange information—who is arguing, what fights or gunshots have already been reported, where gangs might be feuding. The workers then disperse into the neighborhood in an effort to prevent shootings before they occur. By 2.30pm, the place is calm.
Terrance Henderson, CRED’s outreach supervisor and a former gang member himself, explains that this work is why violence has decreased in the neighborhood. “The summer has been going pretty well,” he says. “We had a terrible first quarter,” he adds, referring to when three people were shot outside a Walmart and a local rapper was shot, sparking a feud. But ”We were able to stabilize that early in the spring.” So far this year, in Roseland and West Pullman, the areas covered by the office, the number of murders has decreased by five compared to the same period last year, or roughly 20%. Across Chicago, the police have recorded about 5% fewer murders this year compared to last year. Compared to 2021, when violence reached its peak, it is down by 20%.
It’s not just Chicago (where the crime rate has become a national obsession, much to the annoyance of residents) where violence seems to be declining. Surveys of the largest cities indicate that murder rates are decreasing in a large majority of them this year. According to the Council on Criminal Justice, a research group, the homicide rate in 30 of America’s largest cities was 9% lower in the first half of this year than last. Another survey by AH Datalytics, a New Orleans-based analysis firm, shows a 12% decrease this year in 109 cities they tracked…
2023-08-09 12:47:26
Post from www.economist.com
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