CUTTING VIOLENT CRIME

Thank you for publishing the excellent series on, "Crime, Inc., Following
the Money: Gangs" [April 7 and 8]. Since we published our 1995 report,
"Gangs: Public Enemy Number One," the gang drug cartels are continuing to
flourish, and we are paying the price in crime and violence.

For the first quarter of 2002, murder is down in New York by nearly 40
percent over the same period last year, and murder in Manhattan is down so
far that it is now the lowest since before World War I. Yet in Chicago,
despite endless promises to "do whatever it takes," murder rates are up
once again, and we are still solving only 50 percent or fewer of the
killings. Hundreds of these murders are gang-related and can be drastically
reduced. Otherwise, we will soon have a murder rate of five times that of
New York.

The violence works both ways: Over the last five years, Chicago has had
three times the per capita rate of police officers killed in the line of
duty, and twice the rate of Los Angeles--almost exactly mirroring our
murder rate.

Until the political leadership, the police brass, the rank-and-file
officers and community residents are all in agreement with a co- ordinated
strategy to attack violent crime--and are willing to accept and share
responsibility--no significant improvement will be possible. Given the
acrimonious history of relationships between these groups, it will require
a lot of hard work to produce any results. But how long can we afford to wait?

Thomas B. Kirkpatrick, president

Chicago Crime Commission