Free Republic

Seven people were shot during a span of an hour Monday, a day that saw a total of three people fatally shot and 13 others wounded, police said. There were five double shootings including one in the city's Englewood neighborhood on the South Side that left a 19-year-old man dead. About 7:30 p.m., a 19-year-old man was fatally shot and a 17-year-old boy was wounded while they were walking(snip) The shooter got out of a black car and opened fire at the pair, police said. A 19-year-old man was shot in the chest,(snip) A minute after the shooting on Honore...

Many people feel Baltimore has a real image problem. A group is trying to change that image and held a town hall Tuesday in an effort to keep families in Baltimore. Federal population estimates indicate Baltimore’s population may fall to a 100-year low. So, the idea is to reverse middle class flight, and that is the work of the Downtown Baltimore Family Alliance. Crime and public safety are among the top reasons families cite when choosing to move away from Baltimore City. Advocates said that when families leave it poses a serious threat to the local economy and undermines the...

BALTIMORE (WJZ) — Baltimore is averaging a murder a day in 2017. And there seems to be no end in sight to the bloodshed. While there’s progress between police and the community, the number of killing continues to soar. In some parts of Baltimore, the number of killings is out of control. The city has seen more than one murder every day this year.“Back in the 90s, I could sit in my living room with the door open and wouldn’t have to worry about somebody running through the kill me or nothing,” says Jason Brooks, who’s lived in west Baltimore...

The FBI reported that the total number of homicides in 2015 was 15,696. Blacks were about 52 percent of homicide victims. That means about 8,100 black lives were ended violently, and over 90 percent of the time, the perpetrator was another black. Listening to the news media and the Black Lives Matter movement, one would think that black deaths at the hands of police are the major problem. It turns out that in 2015, police across the nation shot and killed 986 people. Of that number, 495 were white (50 percent), 258 were black (26 percent) and 172 Hispanic (17...

Two men killed about 10 minutes apart brought the Thanksgiving weekend tally to eight fatal shootings. In all, at least 61 people were shot in attacks across the city over four-day holiday weekend, according to Chicago Police. Last year, 8 people were killed and 20 were wounded in shootings during the same holiday weekend, beginning at 7 p.m. the day before Thanksgiving.

Michael Lucas, 61, was sitting on his front stoop in Chicago’s Burnside neighborhood, watching his 3-year-old grandnephew play in the afternoon sun, when without warning two men ran toward the house and opened fire on him.

Much of the media focus centering on the Republican and Democratic conventions dealt with the contrast between Donald Trump’s “dark vision” of America as opposed to Hillary Clinton’s cheerful, optimistic outlook. For proof of this, the Democrats chose to selectively highlight various statistics which show that, overall, crime rates in the United States remain lower now than they were during the historically high levels seen in the eighties and early nineties. That much is certainly true, but it’s equally accurate to point out that in certain places things have gotten considerably worse over the last several years, primarily in large,...

Chicago's per capita homicide rate climbed over the last decade, and the chances of an African-American being killed in the city spiked drastically, according to a new report. From 2005 to 2015, the city went from 17.3 homicides per 100,000 residents to a rate of about 18.8, according to a report from the Injury Prevention and Research Center at the Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. But the report held particularly troubling news for African-Americans. The rate for blacks in Chicago jumped from 36.1 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2005 to 46.5 a decade later. Other studies have shown steep drops...

Violent crime in Los Angeles increased by nearly 16 percent during the first half of this year compared with the same period a year ago, authorities said Friday. Statistics released Friday by the Los Angeles Police Department also showed an increase in property crimes by 3.8 percent, and a 6.3 percent hike in overall crime in the past 12 months. The number of homicides rose by 3.1 percent, from 130 to 134; and the number of shooting victims rose by 1.3 percent, from 537 to 544. The “year to date” figures covered the period from Jan. 1 through July 16....

While speaking with protesters Sunday night, Memphis Police Department Interim Director Mike Rallings called for a 30-day moratorium on killing. "If y'all want to show me something, show me 30 days," Rallings said. "Black Lives Matter" protesters shut down the Interstate 40 bridge for several hours. Nobody was arrested or injured during the protest. Rallings went to the I-40 bridge protest in person where he and other officers joined arm-in-arm with protesters to march off the bridge. "We ain't pepper prayed nobody; we ain't deployed gas. That's the way it should be. I just wanted--come off the bridge, let's come...

A war among criminals rages on in America's third-largest city, with innocent residents caught in the crossfire. Over the holiday weekend, Chicago passed an ominous threshold: So far in 2016, 2,000 people have been victims of gun violence. In all of last year, 2,988 people were victims of gun violence, according to records kept by The Chicago Tribune.

CHICAGO -- New statistics out Friday show there is an average of 10 shootings in Chicago a day. There were 355 shootings and 429 shooting victims in June. There were also 72 murders last month, up from 46 in June of 2015. At the halfway point for the year, homicides citywide have jumped 49 percent, hitting levels unseen since the late 1990s. Through June 19, Chicago had more homicide than New York City or Los Angeles combined. Chicago police are blaming repeat offenders with illegal guns and ties to gangs. The CPD says it has taken more than 4,300 guns...

Chicago police beefed up patrols for Memorial Day as more than 60 people were shot during the violent three-day holiday weekend. By Monday evening, at least 62 people had been shot across the city since Friday afternoon, including six who were killed. This surpasses the number of people shot during last year's Memorial Day weekend, though Chicago Police News Affairs said murders are down 50 percent compared to last Memorial Day.

CHICAGO (CBS) — Three people were killed and at least 25 others were wounded in shootings across Chicago between Friday afternoon and Monday morning.

Washington -- Over the last few days, former President Bill Clinton displayed one of the salient weaknesses of our contemporary politicians. He did this even while reminding Americans of, some would say, his rare lapses in true leadership: his 1994 bipartisan legislation to lower crimes rates in cities. When confronted by low-information Black Lives Matter activists during his speech in Philadelphia last week, he wilted. It took him 24 hours, but eventually, after an eloquent defense of his 1994 leadership, he groveled, whimpering, "I almost want to apologize." Why apologize, Mr. President? The incarceration of criminals that followed that 1994...

a few years, once we’ve gotten some distance from the disastrous Obama presidency, it will be interesting to see which aspects of his tenure had the most damaging long-term impact. His weakness on terrorism? His signature health insurance legislation? His nuclear deal with Iran? His efforts to welcome illegal immigrants? Any of those things are potential contenders, but soaring crime rates may turn out to be Obama’s true legacy. When this man came into office, American crime was in the middle of a 20-year downturn. But due to his administration’s take on racial justice, those numbers are on the rise...

The U.S. Marshals Service arrested more than 13,000 individuals with open warrants as part of a national operation aimed at targeting the "worst of the worst" violent, repeat offenders. The Justice Department announced the results of the six-week fugitive sweep Wednesday, which targeted individuals wanted for crimes like homicides, sex assaults and aggravated assaults. Dubbed Operation Violence Reduction, the sweep focused on 12 cities currently combatting upticks in violent crime, including Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and New Orleans. "This was not a dragnet-type operation designed to arrest anyone with an outstanding warrant," said Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates....

Four boys in Chicago were wounded as they walked down the street, and a total of 17 people were shot in the city on Monday. The shootings of the youngsters happened at approximately 9 p.m. when an unknown male approached and opened fire on the city's West Side. The boys — aged 12, 14, 15 and 16 — were all in stable condition at local hospitals on Monday night. No arrests have been made, but an investigation is ongoing, an official with the Chicago Police Department told the Daily News on Tuesday.

The Hoosier State may have some prominent sports franchises and the Indy 500, but it also has been declared as the state with the highest rate of black homicides. Of course, the gun control movement was quick to blame weak gun laws (via KPNX): Indiana has the highest rate of black homicide victims in the country, according to a study conducted by the national nonprofit Violence Policy Center. The study uses FBI homicide data to rank states according to their black homicide victimization rates. According to the study, there were 213 black homicide victims in Indiana in 2013, or 34.15...

Presidents Day weekend shootings have left four people dead and at least nine others wounded across the city, according to Chicago Police.