3 weeks after 75 people were shot in Chicago, only one has been charged
CHICAGO — An hour after allegedly opening fire and wounding a man at a bustling West Side intersection earlier this month, a one-time reputed shooter for one of the city’s more dangerous street gangs was in custody.
It was Saturday, Aug. 4 — the midway point of the most violent weekend this year in Chicago.
It was impressive, lightning-fast police work that led to gun charges against 27-year-old Rick Franklin.
But nearly three weeks later, Franklin remains the only alleged shooter charged in connection with the carnage from a weekend during which 75 people were shot, a dozen of those fatally. So far, department officials have reported progress on about five shootings that weekend — ranging from Franklin’s arrest to investigative alerts issued for people they want to interview.
Scores of other victims or their family members still await justice. The damage done by Chicago police’s failure to solve the cases ripples beyond those left bandaged, recovering in hospitals or grieving lost loved ones. Residents and crime experts alike say that consistently failing to hold those who commit violence accountable casts a shadow on the entire city.
The department’s record for solving homicides — known as the clearance rate — that occurred in the same year was about 17 percent in 2017, and the rate remains about that low so far in 2018. Shooting clearance rates have been even more dismal in the past, according to a study that found just 5 percent of shootings in 2016 were cleared.
The Tribune is examining the violence during the first weekend of August, hoping to better understand the challenges authorities face in solving crime, as well as the impact unsolved shootings may have on the city’s ongoing cycle of violence.
Tribune reporters have logged every shooting that occurred that weekend and are continuing to compare those records with records the city maintains of both incidents and arrests. While initial reporting indicated there were 74 people shot, the Tribune’s review and new information showed some were self-inflicted shootings and others had not been reported. A total of 75 people were actually struck that weekend.
Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Mayor Rahm Emanuel suggested in remarks the Monday after the violence that Chicagoans need to step up to report who the shooters are. But other factors, including the failure of victims’ cooperation, disillusionment with police after years of controversy and the challenges of entrenched gang warfare may be just as much to blame, experts say.
Other cities with violent crime have had better success catching criminals. Experts who have studied their success attribute that to a focus on multiple issues — improving supervision and oversight of police, reducing caseloads for detectives, quick evidence examination and strengthening the relationship between officers and residents so that people feel comfortable talking to officers.
In an interview with the Tribune on Thursday, department officials said they are struggling with an entrenched culture of violence in which criminals choose retaliation rather than police and the courts to seek justice.