|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) announced a new anti-gun violence plan, following a weekend of terror and violence resulting in 50 people being shot and 11 deceased mid-July, 2021. Fifty police officers will target illegal firearm traffickers, fraudulent firearm dealers, firearms dealers with disreputable licenses, and straw buyers as ordered by Police Superintendent David Brown.
Brown plans to use this new investigation team as a means to take down the third parties who traffic the weapons. At a recent news conference, he said that he aims “to get the gun before it hits the streets at the trafficking level.” Furthermore, he also aims to charge those criminals with the harshest penalties possible putting them away for a long time.
By the Numbers
There has been an 11 percent increase in shootings in the windy city. Superintendent Brown says that drive-by numbers across the country today rival 1980-90, while he aims to work with federal and state authorities. The goal will be to track down the sellers to keep the guns from being sold in the first place, preventing the sale of firearms to inner-city buyers.
Through the first half of 2021, the city has seen 336 homicides with similar numbers from 2020 and 252 homicides from 2019. According to ABC-7-Chicago, 100 people were shot during the Fourth of July weekend — 18 of them died including five children under 14 — alarming residents. The Chicago Police Department also plans to open up a tip-line to give residents a voice to help put the criminals away and remove the guns from the streets.
Written by Mikal Eggleston
Edited by Cathy Milne-Ware
Sources:
The Hill: Chicago police announce new anti-gun violence initiative; by Joseph Choi
NBC Chicago: Chicago Shootings Homicides Are up At Halfway point of 2021: CPD Statistics; by nbcchicago.com
ABC 7 Chicago: Chicago violence: 100 shot, 18 fatally in weekend shootings across the city, CPD says; by Jessica D’Onofrio, Craig Wall, Liz Nagy, and Alexis McAdams
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Photo Naseem’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inline Image Courtesy of Nitram242’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License