Roberto Garcia

Editorial

Violence in Chicago

The high number of killings and violence in Chicago have given it its nickname Chiraq. Many people feel unsafe to even go outside in their own neighborhoods because of this violent city. People say that this violence is due to high gang activity in the streets of Chicago. Mainly gun violence and gang activity has put fear into the lives of the people from the Windy City.

In the news story “5 dead, and 29 wounded in weekend shootings across Chicago” it says, “Five people were killed, and at least 29 others have been wounded including an off-duty Policeman, in separate shootings across Chicago.” This tells us that in only one weekend 5 people were killed, and 29 were wounded due to the violence in Chicago. Chicago's local law enforcement isn't even safe on these streets. These gangs don’t seem to care who they point their guns at.

From October 18, 2014 up to date there has been 419 murders caused by gang activity. This is more than twice of Los Angeles’s murders. We also have to take into consideration that LA’s population is a lot higher than Chicago’s. This high murder rate due to gang activity has claimed the lives, not only of other gang members, but of innocent people through Chicago. You see on the news of innocent kids being shot because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. These gangs in Chicago are vicious and reckless.

Ultimately, it would take lots of time to cleanse these streets of such violent gangs but the best approach would be to reinforce law enforcement to areas high in gang activity and slowly regain our streets so people will stop being afraid to step outside their door. The numerous deaths caused by this violence is too high to go unnoticed and something needs to be done. People need to do something about this and act.