Our new American crime wave, what's to blame?


Dwain Williams, retired Chicago firefighter killed by a 15 year-old carjacking suspect

Sadly, the United States in many urban areas is experiencing a significant crime wave, a lot of it being committed by young people. The picture above shows a retired Chicago firefighter, a 65 year-old man named Dwain Williams who had retired two years ago and was murdered by a 15 year-old suspect during a car jacking in Chicago's southwest side earlier this month. He was simply buying his favorite kind of popcorn at a snack store when a group of young people attempted to steal his car and they were armed with guns. Dwain Williams had his own gun and returned fire, possibly striking some of the suspects. But Mr. Williams himself was hit in the abdomen and died shortly after the incident in the hospital. He had a wife and adult children that are now mourning his loss. This is just one of the tragic crimes that have been increasing in number over the summer and into the fall. In Minneapolis for example, the city in which George Floyd died in police custody, violent crime including carjackings and armed robbery have gone up a lot.

As you can see in the graph above, violent crime has increased from about 32,000 cases in 2019 to about 38,000 cases in 2020. This is a large increase Similarly in Chicago too, there has been a pretty dramatic increase in violence that has led to many young people being killed and injured both intentionally and unintentionally by getting caught in the cross-fire. See the chart below:

What is the cause of this increase in crime that is harming so many people like Dwain Williams? According to some sources the stresses from Covid 19 and the lockdowns have contributed to the crime wave. Other people state that a lack of access to PPE, personal protective equipment, in some communities may to blame for the crime increase. However, another group of commentators say that since the George Floyd protests and the pandemic, police have cut back on arresting people and the justice system has chosen to not punish people for smaller crimes such as shoplifting and minor traffic offenses. In many cities such as New York, Seattle and San Francesco, some people accused of crimes are released without bail back into the public, where some of them commit the same crimes again shortly after being released. In Seattle, a place that has a very large number of homeless people, many of whom are drug addicts, alcoholics and mentally ill, has decriminalized shoplifting, using drugs in public and going to the bathroom outside in front of other people. This may be contributing to the rise n crime rates in cities where new laws have been enacted. Some of these cities have also cut funding to the police after the George Floyd protests, which means fewer police officers able to respond to crimes.

Some of the young people killed in Chicago in 2020

One major example of the increase in violent crime among teens, and even preteens, is in Oakland, California. CBS Bay Area news writes that:

"Police have seen an uptick in the number of young people involved in armed carjackings and robberies in Oakland and warn residents to be vigilant while getting in and out of their cars. Police say officers have arrested middle-school age suspects who have held victims at gunpoint.

The juveniles, ranging in age between 11-16 are known to use the stolen vehicles to commit additional robberies throughout Oakland. The Department is very concerned about these dangerous crimes committed by these children and teenagers". ( Oakland Sees Alarming Trend Of Armed Teens, Juveniles Committing Violent Crimes)

So according to Oakland, California police, some of the kids getting involved in armed robbery and carjackings are only 11 years old! This is a very serious problem involving teens today. What do you think is the reason it is happening now and what can be done to prevent it?

Question: What do you think is causing the current crime wave and how do you think it could be stopped?

18 murders in 24 hours: Inside the most violent day in 60 years in Chicago

Minneapolis calls for extra police to help fight violent crime wave

Crime Wave Blamed on COVID Hardships

Oakland Sees Alarming Trend Of Armed Teens, Juveniles Committing Violent Crimes

The CP Edit: COVID consequences