Steve Chapman on the Truth About Violence in Chicago

Right
now, Chicago is getting national as well as local attention for
outbreaks of bloodshed, which reinforce its reputation as the
murder capital of America. In terms of total homicides, it may be.
But that figure fails to account for population, writes Steve
Chapman.

In the overall rate of violent crime, Chicago ranks
19th—slightly worse than Minneapolis and better than Kansas City,
Indianapolis, and Nashville. It has half as much violent crime, per
capita, as Detroit or Oakland, California.

Taken as a whole, the city has not gotten more dangerous.
It has gotten less dangerous—much less. Nor does it stand out among
its peers. “Chicago’s overall violent crime rate is not exceptional
when compared to other large cities,” writes Yale University
sociologist Andrew Papachristos in a recent study.

None of this is any comfort to recent victims of crime or to the
families of young people who are gunned down in the street. But
it’s crucial to understanding the nature and size of the problem.
High levels of criminal violence are a terrible reality in some
neighborhoods, but not in most, according to Chapman.

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