violent crime

April 29, 2016

Tackling Violent Crime in Chicago: Is it a Lost Cause?

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

Like most cities, Chicago’s violent crimes seem local to certain areas and districts. Those areas taint the entire city with their reputation of violence. Specifically, neighborhoods that are infested with gangs and street thugs, like Austin and Englewood, have a murder rate that is much higher than any other part of the city. But when anyone thinks about Chicago, they think that it is one large area where gangs rule. Sociologist refers to this typically as the “crime gap.” Theory has it that the “crime gap” advances as the “income gap” gets wider; that they are linked in such a way that unemployment and poverty creates the atmosphere where wants and needs conjoin to create the stagnant pond that eventually gives birth to crime and violent behavior. This theory is played out in neighborhood after neighborhood. The most crime infested communities are those where poverty is the rule of the day.

Fixing the Problem is Harder Than You Think

Theories aside, is there a way to fix this problem? A good start would be to bring industry back into the communities, but employers are not likely to relocate into areas overrun with violent crime. To end poverty, you need to bring employers back into the inner cities but the employers will not come back unless crime can be controlled. Entitlement programs are bandages in a situation that needs a tourniquet. Those that can move out of the city altogether, are doing so.

April 27, 2016

The Coroner Says Marques Gaines Was Murdered, But by Whom?

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

A series of events led to the death of a Chicago man, Marques Gaines, that is now being called a homicide by the coroner’s office. Gaines and an unidentified man started arguing outside a 7-Eleven Store. The argument escalated, ending up with the unidentified man assaulting Gaines in front of the store and leaving him unconscious in the street.

Several bystanders rifled through Gaines’ pockets and robbed him while he lay unconscious. Other bystanders walked casually over and around the unconscious man but no one attempted to help him. Eventually, a taxi cab driver ran over Gaines. Gaines was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead.

The question is who is responsible for Gaines’ “murder.” Was it the unidentified man who punched Gaines and left him unconscious in the street? Was it the bystanders who robbed him while he lay unconscious in the street and failed to assist him; or was it the cab driver, who may not have known that Gaines was lying unconscious in the street, but who ended up running over him? Who is ultimately responsible for Gaines’ death, and who will be charged with his murder?

April 8, 2016

The Ongoing War Between the Police and Political Activists

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

There is a war going on in Chicago, as well as in other parts of the country, between law enforcement and political activists. Meanwhile, the residents of those communities are caught in the cross-fires. This has been a bloody year for Chicagoans, and there does not seem to be any let up in the near future. In the past three months there have been over 100 individuals murdered on the streets of Chicago.

An obvious reason for this could be the link between the ongoing anti-police protests, sparked by political activists, lack of support from superiors for police officers in the field, and police morale. The new spike in violent crimes in Chicago and elsewhere may have everything to do with a combination of all of these elements.

Heightened Scrutiny of Law Enforcement

March 11, 2016

Fast-Food Fights are Criminal Assaults and Battery

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

On the rise, and all across the nation, patrons of fast-food eateries are waging war against these establishments in the form of criminal activity; actually they are engaging in fast-food fights with the establishments’ workers over errors in food orders, etc., and sometimes just because they want to fight an easy target. The mistake in the order just may be the excuse.

These occurrences have become equivalent to “off” road rage as patrons, looking for their favorite fast-food burger, chicken nuggets, or breakfast meal deal have taken to attacking and assaulting fast-food workers over disputes about their abilities to “have it their way.” What is the psychology behind this? Is this a natural phenomenon amongst people who frequent fast-food restaurants and if so, what is causing it?

Is it the Food or Something Else?

February 26, 2016

Blighted Neighborhoods in Chicago and High Crime

by Law Offices of David L. Freidberg, P.C.

In an effort to eradicate crime in the urban city of Chicago, the city officials are demolishing abandoned buildings that are magnets for drug users and drug dealers. The buildings targeted for demolition are known hangouts for gangs and drug dealers. Residents of the neighborhood have been asking Alderman Carrie Austin for years to get the city to take down these buildings. Happily, now, the city is listening to the neighborhood residents.

The Demolition of Buildings in Blighted Neighborhoods

The Chicago Police Department and the Department of Building and Safety have started demolishing the building structures located in the West Pullman neighborhood. Mayor Rahm Emanuel says that these demolitions are necessary to fight gang violence and crime in the area. Chicago has torn down at least 14 structures and boarded up about 400 buildings so far. The structures being targeted for demotion are those that are located in high crime areas, those that have absentee owners and those that have no possibility of being repaired. See abc7news for more on this story.