Homicides in Chicago - a chilling pace

This morning's Northwest Herald carried a short three-paragraph article under this headline on an inner page: "Chicago homicides up 60% in 3 months".

And the numbers? None was shown.

The Chicago Tribune tells it differently. It's RedEye has been tracking homicides for several years. Since January 2007 there have been more than 2,400 homicides!

How did yesterday's Chicago Tribune article lead off? "Homicides in Chicago soared by 60 percent in the first three months of 2012, continuing a troublesome trend that began late last year"

The numbers? "From Jan. 1 through April 1 this year, 120 homicides were recorded in Chicago, up sharply from 75 in the same period in both 2011 and 2010, according to department statistics."

Do Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPD Superintendent Garry McCarthy have a clue what to do?

Solving this problem is a long-term project. The police cannot do it alone. When druggies and impoverished people have no hope, current conditions will continue. There are huge social, educational and economic problems in Chicago. Ever been in the ghetto? Most people in the suburbs have not.

When kids, young adults and adults kill others and "don't care", how do you combat that? I have often said (somewhat in jest, but not entirely) that the solution is just to arm everyone. Give them good guns, ammo and teach them to shoot straight. Teach them when to shoot and when not to.

If the armed punks had to worry about a whole neighborhood shooting back at them, it would take about a week for the shootings to stop. This is what happened on the California freeways in the late 1980s. When drivers started shooting back, the shooting on the freeways stopped.