A new report by WBEZ claims that Chicago residents are more likely to be shot by police than New Yorkers. Six times more likely:
Chicagoans are nearly 6 times more likely to be shot by police than residents of New York City. Here’s the math:
WBEZ also mentions that the Independent Police Review Authority, established in 2007, has never deemed a shooting unjustified. Perhaps that, as Chicagoist notes, is because Chicago's murder rate and gun violence soared past NYC's in 2012, despite being smaller. Or maybe that's just what Chicago police would say.
Despite these findings, crime in both cities is down, as Chicago recorded its lowest first-quarter homicide total since 1958 earlier this year. However, it's worth mentioning that Chicago magazine probed the validity of those numbers. The search raised questions:
Chicago conducted a 12-month examination of the Chicago Police Department’s crime statistics going back several years, poring through public and internal police records and interviewing crime victims, criminologists, and police sources of various ranks. We identified 10 people, including [Tiara] Groves, who were beaten, burned, suffocated, or shot to death in 2013 and whose cases were reclassified as death investigations, downgraded to more minor crimes, or even closed as noncriminal incidents—all for illogical or, at best, unclear reasons.
It's understandable why police in Chicago had no comment on the matter. They have bigger problems to address.
[via WBEZ, Chicagoist and Chicago Magazine]
RELATED: 10 Reasons Chicago's Murder Rate May Rise in 2013
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