Chicago police take aim at even minor fugitives when they’re on ‘heat list’

Brandon Milton’s crime might have been minor compared with the hundreds of murders and shootings in Chicago every year. .........p>....The effort springs from a Yale University sociologist’s finding that these “hot people” are far more likely, as a result of those social ties, to become a victim or perpetrator of deadly violence themselves.....

....Each person on the heat list is given a number — a heat index — rating how likely it’s deemed that person will be involved in a murder.

Starting this past summer, McCarthy doubled the number of officers in the fugitive unit — in part to focus on these hot people.

......The idea behind the initiative is to get hot people off the street whether they are wanted for a serious crime, like murder, or the most minor offenses, like failing to show up in court for trespassing.

The police want to interview them to see whether they know anything about the murder that put them on the heat list, Salemme said.

But they also want to warn them that, based on their association with these victims, statistics show they are far more likely to become involved in a shooting than someone not on the list, he said.

“Hopefully, we get them to realize that it’s time to make some drastic changes in their lifestyle,” Salemme said, adding that, so far, the reaction seems to be good. “They’re paying attention.”

........“They were so determined, I thought they wanted him for something more serious — not a misdemeanor,” his mother said........

......“It’s time-consuming at times,” Cesario said. “You can do eight,10 addresses before you find your target.”

Wolinski said he once searched 35 addresses before finding a guy wanted on gun and drug charges.

“Nobody feels better than when you find the guy you’re hunting,” he said. “You look in every crevice — until you find them.”

Crime in Chicago would be better addressed by looking into - assigning "HOT" numbers - to the upper crust political layers of Chicago than running this "study" on the streets. imho. But while Chicago murders and violence in the streets are off the charts, the city is being used as a lab for this study.

What will your social ties "hot number" be?

Surprise! Surprise! It's tied to your health.

Yale Sociology

Andrew V. Papachristos is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at Yale University, a faculty fellow at the Center for Research on Inequalities and the Life Course (CIQLE), and a faculty affiliate at the Institution for Social and Policy Studies (ISPS) at Yale University. His research focuses on social networks, neighborhoods, street gangs, and interpersonal violence. Most recently, Papachristos was awarded an NSF Early CAREER award to examine how violence spreads through high-risk social networks in four cities. He is also currently involved in the evaluation and implementation of several violence reduction strategies, most notably the Project Safe Neighborhoods and the Group Violence Reduction Strategy in Chicago. His writing has appeared in Foreign Policy, The American Journal of Sociology, City & Community, The Annals of the American Academy of Social and Political Science, The American Journal of Public Health, The Journal of Urban Health, Criminology & Public Policy, Journal of Quantitative Criminology, and several edited volumes and other peer-reviewed journals. In addition, he is the most recent recipient of the American Society of Criminology’s Ruth Cavan “Young Scholar” award given each year to the most outstanding scholar who was granted a Ph.D. within the previous 5 years. He received his Ph.D from the University of Chicago....

Chicago: Cook County Board approves $1-a-pack cigarette tax hike, violence tax

If you smoke, purchase guns or own slot machines in Cook County, it’s going to cost a little more come 2013.

During a Friday meeting, a majority of Cook County commissioners approved Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s $2.9 billion spending plan that includes a $1-a-pack cigarette tax hike, a new $25 tax on each firearm purchased at the suburban gun shops — city law prohibits gun sales in Chicago — and a new tax on slot and other gambling machines: $1,000 for each slot machine at Rivers Casino in suburban Des Plaines — the only casino in the county — $200 for the video gambling machines set up in bars and restaurants around the suburbs...............

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