Week 14

Homicides in the city of Chicago as of today

What I have left to photograph as of today

There were 15 homicides this week, including the four men who were shot and killed execution style in a garage on the southwest side last night. That is a few above the weekly average for the summer months. In 4 days, Labor Day will have come and gone and I will be finished with the tracking component of this project. I have photographed 85 of the 165 locations so far. I still have tons of catching up to do, but feel that it can be done. As you can see from the maps above, I have made a good dent. Look for my report on Tuesday that will include some interesting statistics about the summer months of 2010 in Chicago.

Week 13

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There were 13 homicides this week. That is 6 less than last week, but still just over the average of 11 per week so far this summer. The average age of the dead this week was 27. That aligns with the median age of those killed all summer long. This week was a busy one for me. I spent 4 days photographing and made it to 30+ sites. I had both good and bad experiences. One of the most memorable was when I talked to the cousin of 13-year-old Robert Freeman, who was there when the boy was shot.

Week 12

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This week was a particularly bad one with 19 homicides. That is about 8 more than the average week this summer. People always say that when the temperature rises so do the homicides. I guess it was a particularly hot week in Chicago with the temperature only dipping below 80 one time. This week began with 1-year-old twins dying from maternal neglect and ended with a 71-year-old man shot while his home was being robbed. These victims are the oldest and the youngest that we have seen all summer. Two women were also shot to death this week by their respective partners. The average age of those that were killed this week was 29, just a little older than the average for the summer that is now at roughly 27 years old.

It is getting increasingly harder to keep up photographing with the pace of homicides in the city. At 10 murders a week it is already a feat to get to each site, but they seem to be increasing exponentially as the summer goes on. I am trying my hardest to not get too far behind. It is becoming more and more daunting, but I am not going to stop until each place has been photographed.

Week 11

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There were 13 more homicides in the city of Chicago this week. That is a bit above the average of 10 a week for the summer months so far. I was off in my estimation last week. There are still 3 weeks and a few days left until Labor Day, which means that the total amount of homicides this summer may be equal to or greater than summer of 2009 if this rate continues. I have an overwhelming amount of sites to visit and photograph. I am currently looking for more help from people who can escort me to the more dangerous sites.

Week 10

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Week 10 of summer saw another 10 homicides bringing the total for the summer up to 106. The same time last year, Chicago was looking at about 129 as July moved into August. Thankfully we are slightly behind last year with just over three weeks left of the summer. The total number of homicides in Chicago last year from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day was 168. If we continue to see 10 homicides a week we could have a less violent summer than last year (this is not accounting for total incidents, just homicides). Of the 106 homicides so far this summer only 16 of them have been non-gun related. Last summer the total of non-gun related homicides was 29 of the 168 (21 as of this date last year). The month of August has been a violent one in the past so we will see how these numbers translate in a few weeks.

Week 9

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After 9 weeks, just over two months of keeping documentation of the violence taking place in Chicago, there have been 94 homicides accounted for in the media. I have found an additional 4 that seem to have slipped through the cracks, bringing the total to at least 98. The total number of years of life lived that were abruptly ended by violence in Chicago so far this summer is 2,484. That makes the average age of the victims 26.4-years-old. With an average of 1.4 people killed everyday since Memorial Day.

If this sounds like a lot, it is a huge improvement over 1974, the worst year on record for Chicago homicides with a toll of 970 murders. That averages out to about 2.6 people killed a day.

Week 5

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This week, Chicago only saw 5 homicides (3 shot, 1 strangling, and 1 case of abuse). This number is relatively low in comparison to previous weeks. With the exception of 1-year-old Jamar Harris, the victims were older than average bringing the average age of death up to 26.5-years-old. The Taste of Chicago saw some violence last night with 3 stabbings. Police identified one of the victims as a known gang member. Let's hope that's it for the Taste.

I wish you a happy and safe 4th of July weekend.

Another Update: Week 4

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Chicago saw another 13 14 homicides this week. That brings the total for the summer up to 51 52 in the first 4 weeks. These homicides add up to 1,319 1,348 years of life were prematurely lost with the victim's average age being 26-years-old. Out of the 52 homicides so far, only 4 were caused by something other than gunshots.

Week 3

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We are only three weeks into summer and the above map of Chicago is already blanketed with yellow pins. There have been 38 murders so far and the deceased are just a small fraction of the people who have been shot and hospitalized. I have visited and photographed the sites of 13 homicides so far and I am having a hard time keeping up.

Week 2

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This week saw 13 more homicides making the total after just two weeks of summer a staggering 25.

Update: Week 1

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Well, the first week of summer saw 10 12 homicides from what I can tell. Something I have learned so far in this process is that nothing seems very well documented or reported (at least for the public). Many accounts have different information depending on the news source. I recognize that the information that I have here may not be complete or entirely accurate, but I am going to do my best to keep everything updated with the most current and exact information I can find.

I am working on understanding and using the Chicago Police Department's CLEARMAP website. Once I can crack that I will be able to give you the information as reported by the police department. Until then...well...bear with me.