It may seem hard to believe with the recent slew of gun deaths in Chicago over the past two weeks, but new numbers suggest that things may be changing.
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The city’s police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, announced that murders are down 26 percent compared to last year this time when murders were up in the first quarter.
Also, shooting incidents are down 19 percent year over year, Supt. Garry McCarthy said.
But how is that possible?
McCarthy said that the majority of the change can be traced back to guns and violence, which police are trying new tactics to combat. In the past month, narcotics officers on the West Side have done a number of undercover drug buys with a focus on heroin and crack cocaine.
One buy ended with 15 gang members in custody and the other led to the arrest of a dozen. The store where the second investigation led to a bust has since been shut down, and McCarthy said that should serve as a warning to other Chicago businesses.
“It’s real simple,” McCarthy said. “If you’re engaged in it, you’re going to lose your business. If you’re engaged in facilitating or tolerating these behaviors, you’re going to lose your licenses and we’re going to go after your business.”
In all, McCarthy estimates that in the first 10 weeks of 2013, Chicago police took 3,100 guns off the streets.
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Now that’s some good news! Let’s hope the city, which is usually riddled with gun violence, can keep this up.
SOURCE: NBC Chicago
