But an exhaustive two-part expose published recently in Chicago magazine suggests that the drastic reduction in crime rates across the city in 2013 was too good to be true. Investigative reporters David Bernstein and Noah Isackson documented numerous examples in which the Chicago Police Department reclassified crimes, including homicides, in an effort to make the numbers look better. Chief McCarthy denies cooking the books, insisting that the steep reduction was the result of new police strategies put in place in early 2013.
Whether the statistics are being manipulated or not, it’s indisputable that Chicago faces a catastrophic homicide and gun violence problem, which is highly concentrated in a few neighborhoods on the south and west sides of the city. By the administration’s own tally, one person has been killed and five people have been shot, on average, every day this year in Chicago—and that was before the carnage over the Fourth of July weekend.
All of this takes place against the backdrop of Emanuel’s re-election bid next year. Despite assiduous efforts to manage his image over the last four years, complete with a shiny stage-managed “documentary” on CNN touting Emanuel as a tough, fearless leader – the mayor’s ratings are in the tank. A poll in mid-May showed him with a meager 29 percent support for another term. Among the constituencies Emanuel has alienated most during his first term in office are African-Americans, who have galvanized against him because of his decision to close 50 under-utilized public schools and also his inability to get a grip on crime. Just 8 percent of African-Americans are supporting Emanuel for re-election, and some prominent members of the black community are publicly urging Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle to run.
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