Gun violence in Chicago - actually increasing or just drawing media focus recently? If it is actually increasing, what are some leading theories on root causes?
It’s not the highest it’s ever been, but it’s definitely increased 2008-2012and the number of homicides in January 2013 don’t give much hope that it will get better this year.
As for causes, that’s more of a Great debate.
a theory I’ve heard is that when Rahm Emanuel took over he pulled cops off of gang duty and put them on street patrol. I can’t find a cite at the moment, but if true that would play a role.
other potential causes include a warm winter, the demolition of housing projects or the fact that gang leaders were arrested, creating smaller warring factions rather than larger coalitions.