While the pandemic has claimed heavily, COVID-19 is also blamed for contributing to a record high number of deaths due to gun violence.
At age 18, Nasee Minniefield was just studying high school and lay with him all his life until he was shot dead on Halloween.
“I really haven’t been right since,” says Nasee’s grandmother, Donna Minniefield. “I’m numb, I’m sad, I’m hurting.”
According to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, Minniefield was one of 875 people killed in gun violence last year; 78% of the victims were black.
“This is by far the highest total of gun-related murders we’ve ever had. The only time we got close was in 1994 when we had 838 homicides due to gun violence,” said Natalia Derevyanny, a spokeswoman for Cook Medical. Examiner’s office.
“I see so much on TV and have watched so many innocent children – children are killed and I would never have dreamed one day in my life that I would feel the pain they feel,” Minniefield said.
The death of gun violence was not the only record breaker for the year. Cook County also recorded a total of 16,049 deaths in 2020, which was also a record.
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The numbers were increased by the 8192 lives lost due to COVID-19 contagion deaths.
Pandemic tension is also considered a contributing factor to the number of murders during the unprecedented year.
Chicago police also released the final crime rate for 2020 on Friday, which showed that shootings and murders jumped by more than 50% in 2020.
In 2020, there were 769 murders, significantly higher than the 495 murders counted in 2019.
In terms of shooting, the city recorded 3,261 last year, a big jump from 2,140 shootings in 2019. The number of shooting casualties climbed to 4,033 in 2020, up from 2,598 in 2019.
It illustrates a brilliant year for violence after three years of progress where many innocent children have died and some police have also become targets.
Nearly a quarter of the killings took place on the West Side.
City leaders and a new police superintendent in Chicago have been forced to tackle civil unrest amid the COVID-19 pandemic and implement various community policing strategies, among others. But police say the total crime is down.
Police Superintendent David Brown promises to make improvements when it comes to building community partnerships and strengthening investigations.
“I think our savior is going to be the COVID vaccine,” said Dr. Faran Bokhari, head of trauma at Cook County Hospital, said. “I think people are so tired of being indoors and not being able to do what they normally do.”
Another sobering statistic is the overall number of deaths due to opioid overdose reported by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. According to the ME, there have been 1,599 confirmed cases so far, and possibly up to 500 results pending toxicology.
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“Our biggest fears were, you know, really, you know, we imagined – that we saw how many fatal opioid deaths just increased in a very troublesome way,” said Dr. Steven Aks, doctor at Cook Hospital, said. Toxicologist.
But behind all the statistics, there are real families who have lost loved ones and who are hurting. These families are carrying the pain of 2020 into the new year as they hope for healing.
New year of crime
Two people were hit by stray gunfire just after ringing in the new year.
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About 12 minutes past midnight, Chicago police said a man and a woman were sitting in the living room of a house when they were shot from outside.
The shooting took place in the 8700 block of South Buffalo Avenue near Chicago.
The 51-year-old man is now in critical condition with a gunshot wound to his head and a 51-year-old woman has a pasture on her head. No one is in custody.
A 41-year-old man has died in Chicago’s first murder in the new year.
Police said he was driving near 47th and King Drive in downtown Bronzeville overnight when someone started shooting.
The man was shot in the neck and crashed into his car.
Police did not make any arrests.
On Friday morning, Superintendent Brown issued a statement saying:
‘2020 was a perfect storm.
Public safety is an effort that is not only on the deck, that not only the police but also street workers, faith leaders, the courts, community organizations and residents need to work together. However, the criminal justice ecosystem has been deeply affected and disrupted by the global coronavirus pandemic and the death of George Floyd.
The increase in fatal shootings and murders is not unique to Chicago, as many major mayors and law enforcement officials are grappling with unprecedented levels of violence across the state. Our Chicago police officers faced unprecedented circumstances to contend with an increase in violent crime, which became even more difficult by struggling with a health pandemic while facing prolonged periods of civil unrest and looting .
Our officers have also been subjected to violent crime themselves, as shots fired at CPD officers have increased by 558% since 2015. Since January 1, 2020, 79 officers have been shot at in 2020, and ten officers have been hit by bullets.
While the rest of our city and nation struggled with a global pandemic, the Chicago Police Department also recorded more than 2,450 confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout the department. Unfortunately, four of our CPD officers succumbed to COVID-related diseases.
During the summer, we focused our crime-fighting strategy on a nationwide approach to the use of resources in areas with high levels of violence. This strategic shift had a positive effect on public safety and reduced the rate of monthly killings that accelerated in the first half of 2020. We have also dedicated more resources to intensifying our investigation into middle- and higher-level narcotics. drug dealers, who have proven to serve as important drivers of violence.
The best way to reduce crime and violence is to prevent it from happening in the first place by building bridges and trust in the community. Community engagement has become a central part of our unit-level public safety approach, from the detective agency to the city-wide community safety teams and critical incident response teams. These include the Rollin ‘Rec events held this summer in partnership with the Chicago Parks District, along with the upcoming launch of the Police Athletic and Arts League in 2021. We also expanded the Neighborhood Policing Initiative this past summer from two to five districts and will expand into additional districts in 2021.
As we end a turbulent year and prepare for 2021, our department’s vision of a safer Chicago will be rooted in a five-pillar strategy for strategic change: growing trust in the community, transformative change through reform, well-being of the officer, public safety and the strengthening of investigations.
Chicago police have a moral obligation to respect the dignity and sanctity of human life. This dignity and respect must be reflected in every aspect of our functioning and must permeate every aspect of our organizational culture.
Finally, I want to say how proud I am to be associated with the men and women of the Chicago Police Department. Regardless of the hardships, regardless of the danger, they continue to report on duty every day and night to serve and protect this great city. ‘
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