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Chicago • Chicago saw a dramatic spike in the number of homicides and shootings in January — the bloodiest start to a year in at least 16 years and a blow to a police force struggling to regain public trust after the release of a video of a white officer fatally shooting a black teen.
Chicago police reported 51 homicides were committed in the city last month, compared with 29 in January 2015. The number of shooting incidents more than doubled, from 119 in January 2015 to 242 this January. The number of shooting victims increased from 136 to 292.
"We can't put our finger on" specific reasons for the increase, said John Escalante, the city's interim police superintendent. But he noted the increase coincides with an equally dramatic decrease in the number of street stops made in January. He noted the decrease comes after a policy change that went into effect this year requiring officers to fill out lengthier forms after those stops than the brief "contact cards" they used through 2015. It could be that officers are taking more time to fill out the forms as they adjust to the change, preventing them from making more stops, he said.
Escalante also said officers have expressed concerns "about being the next viral video. Even when they're doing something right, they're concerned that their actions will be questioned, and they will be the one that goes viral."