By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
In December of last year, we warned that crime was a far bigger killer of Chicago youth than COVID was.
At the time, the city was more focused on its battle with the Chicago Teachers’ Union over the extent of its COVID mitigation policies. Chicago Public Schools were still closed and the union was fighting tooth and nail to delay any reopening.
The homicide data should have incited a large response from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx and Chief Judge Tim Evans to better protect Chicago’s youth.
What do things look like a year later? The killing of youth has persisted at the same pace.
The data we highlighted last year showed that from the beginning of the pandemic through December 2020, 100 youth aged 20 and under had already died from homicide, compared to just four from COVID. You can read that piece here and the old graphic is shown below.
Youth homicides have continued their torrid pace since then. Another 128 youth have perished by violence, resulting in a total of 228 homicides since the pandemic started.
The fatal results are no surprise given the finger pointing Lightfoot, Foxx and others have been doing. They’ve had no plan to reduce violence and they continue to have no plan. It’s one of the reasons why Cook County surpassed 1,000 homicide victims for the first time in 27 years.
For now, don’t count on things to get better any time soon.
A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Historical chart of primary cause of death of Chicago residents ages 20 and under prior to March 1, 2020?
It’s always accident, suicide, and homicide as top causes for teens. Same is true nationally.
I understand that Lighthead, or Lightfoot, has criticized retail for their lack of security. Here’s a thought. Lightfoot needs to dismiss her CPD or private security detail, if she has one, in the interests of solidarity with Chicago’s besieged population and business. Equity for all, eh?