Watch Mayor Emanuel, McCarthy, And Diaz Talk Chicago Crime On FOX 32 Sunday
By Jon Graef in News on Dec 15, 2013 7:00PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, and Chicago Family & Support Services Commissioner Evelyn Diaz sat down for the entirety of FOX 32 Sunday to discuss Chicago crime with Fox 32's Darlene Hill and Mike Flannery. Watch the segment below:
Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News
The genesis of the interview was a study, by Yale University's Andrew Papachristos that shows Chicago may have its lowest murder rate since the '70s. Emanuel and company boast of a more "holistic" approach to crime, and that "there is not one thing" responsible for the reduction in crime.
Hey, Mr. Mayor, how about a more "holistic" approach to schools then?
McCarthy, for his part, stated crime was down.
"All categories of crime are down over a two-year period, and the fact is it's across the city. it's not North Side versus South Side," McCarthy said. McCarthy cited the North Side neighborhood of Edgewater as having the greatest decrease in crime.
Of course, one doesn't have to keep track of the news to see that violence in some areas remains, in the words of the Yale study, "stubbornly high."
One factor that has changed very little is the racially disparate impact of violence. Although African-Americans comprise about one-third of Chicago's population, when it comes to murder they comprise about 80% of victims and offenders. Of Chicago's homicide victims so far in 2013: 334 were African-American, 75 Hispanic and 8 Caucasian....
The officials all said they believe the racially disparate impact of crime stems from factors that include unemployment. The jobless rate among African-Americans in Chicago is 24%. Just 6% of white in Chicago are unemployed.
So how do Diaz, Emanuel, and McCarthy respond to those concerns? Watch for yourself:
Chicago News and Weather | FOX 32 News
Parts 3 and 4 can be seen here.