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* The rise in crime in Chicago’s Bucktown area is real and undoubtedly scary. But some folks are lashing out at straw men, and members of the news media have too often amplified their false claims. Here’s a particularly egregious example from Block Club Chicago…
Bucktown residents vented frustrations about a recent rise in burglaries, thefts and armed robberies in the neighborhood at a public forum Thursday evening, peppering state lawmakers with safety concerns and calling on them for legislative action.
“Neighbors are feeling terrorized. They’re fearful. They’re scared,” said Steve Jensen, board member of the Bucktown Community Organization, which hosted the forum. “I personally would like to see stricter consequences for crimes so that when the idea pops in peoples’ minds, they think twice.”
Robberies in the Shakespeare (14th) Police District, which includes Bucktown and parts of Wicker Park and Logan Square, are up 59 percent as of Nov. 26 of this year compared to 2022, according to city data. The district has seen a 129 percent jump in robberies in 2023 versus this period in 2019. […]
Jensen said he wanted to give residents the opportunity to voice their concerns directly to lawmakers. In his view, a “watering down” of laws, including raising the felony theft threshold from $250 to $1,000, has allowed burglaries to proliferate. […]
When pressed by neighbors about whether state leaders would commit to sponsoring a bill that would bring the felony theft minimum back down to $250, [Rep. Jawaharial Williams] vowed to meet in the middle.
“Let’s go to $500,” Williams said. “Absolutely, I’ll do that.”
1) The state’s felony theft minimum is set in statute at $500. A five-second Google search (Illinois felony theft law) by the reporter, or Rep. Jawaharial Williams or the two other legislators in attendance would have shown that.
2) Burglary is a different crime and is set in statute as a felony. Again, the Google can be your friend (Illinois burglary law).
3) Robberies are mentioned at the top of the story. Robbery is a felony in Illinois. Again, a five-second Google search (Illinois robbery law) would have cleared that up.
4) It’s not directly mentioned above, but this is not a Pre-Trial Fairness Act issue, either. Robbery, residential burglary and vehicular invasion are all detainable offenses. (Pre-trial Fairness Act).
5) The bottom line is perpetrators can’t even be sentenced if the police don’t catch the alleged criminals. And, yes, the local state’s attorney doesn’t prosecute retail thefts as felonies below $1,000, but people are up in arms about much different crimes. Either way, this is not a sentencing law issue.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 11:21 am
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Good post, Rich. Too many people are re-presenting information from their favorite media outlets, rather than seeking out news and facts. Since the rise of the internet in the 1990s and the adoption of smart phones in the 2000s, many people seem to favor favorite media outlets that affirm what we believe (which they often want us to believe). News reports are less relevant compared to the past. They have been replaced by commentary.
Preaching has replaced teaching.
Comment by H-W Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 11:55 am
My guess would be you have a young, inexperienced reporter and an editor with a whole ton of stories to read and post every day, so they don’t have time to stop and think/ask questions/ask for more reporting to be done. They’re just “editing for f@!$,” as they say in the business. So you get a reporter who doesn’t realize that covering a story only starts with gathering info at a meeting, that more reporting is required to be more than a transcriber. You end up with more heat than light when that doesn’t happen.
If one side says it’s sunny and the other side says it’s raining, it’s not your job to simply report both sides, it’s your job to look out the window and find out the truth.
Comment by George Ryan Reynolds Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 11:59 am
===with a whole ton of stories to read and post every day===
According to a story list posted on BCC’s website, that reporter had only one story that day and hadn’t posted anything since February
https://blockclubchicago.org/author/noah-asimow/
But the rest, yes.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:05 pm
Five whole seconds? What had that kind of time??
Comment by Friendly Bob Adams Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:07 pm
Journalism has been a joke for years, and local crime journalism in particular has all of the cardinal sins that bother me about it, many of which Rich identified.
I’d also add in though when people report on a local issue but ignore macro trends. “Crime is up in X location in 2021-22″ but fail to note it is up everywhere. “Crime is down in Y location in 2023″ but fail to note it is down everywhere. Almost as if macroeconomic conditions matter far more than local policy choices (which most academics who study crime and criminology have agreed on for decades).
Local reporting on crime issues will never cease to be a massive pet peeve of mine.
Comment by Homebody Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:15 pm
Maybe if the cops quit slow walking responses, got out of their cars, put down their smartphones, turned off Netflix, and actually spoke with people in the community we would have better results. Performance (solve ) rates below 30percent would get other professions in very profound trouble
Comment by Stormsw7706 Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:19 pm
Anyone know if the writer is a PAR graduate? I’m guessing no, but maybe standards have slipped lately.
Comment by Socially DIstant watcher Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:22 pm
The issue is that there has been a general policy and thematic push towards less enforcement, less consequences, etc. Pursuits are harder. Pre-trial detention is harder (even if the perception is different than reality).
This creates and overall sentiment of leniency vs. enforcement. This is upsetting to many Chicagoans but thus far has not had any ballot consequences. I suspect that will change by the next election (see, Houston).
Another issue is that judges are applying pre-trial detention without any uniformity.
Comment by de Gaulle Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:36 pm
Sadly, we don’t do facts. We do hysteria generated by anger and fear pumped up by clickbait journalism, propagandists, pub pundits, and prevaricating politicians.
Comment by Norseman Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:37 pm
I don’t know where these reporters went to school. But it seems to me that a lot of reporters (especially the hyperlocal types) don’t know how to research in open source areas. They also don’t know seem to know how to find an expert to help them understand an issue when it is beyond the scope of their knowledge. Too many times, reporters fail to ask the next obvious question which will change the perspective on the article. They just write whatever they think.
Comment by Unionman Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:37 pm
Point of information
In response to Socially DIstant watcher’s question, Mr. Asimow is not a graduate of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois Springfield.
Respectfully,
Charlie Wheeler, retired PAR director
Comment by Charlie Wheeler Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:39 pm
===even if the perception is different than reality===
And that perception all too often comes from stories like the one above.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:40 pm
story, messed up. worse, actual crimes. was there a couple times in the last few weeks. friend who lives there who is a gotv warrior for Dems knows what happens where & she is quite on guard.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:41 pm
Rich, the local media also has awful problems figuring out what is a robbery or burglary. While “we wuz robbed!” is a famous line, I’ve seen media report closed businesses being “robbed” when they were burglarized.
The whole FOID/CCL thing is also mishandled, having seen stories where people not needing a CCL (like in own home, on own land or in own business) are cast as “not having a permit.” like they did something wrong. They only need a valid FOID.
Comment by thisjustinagain Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:48 pm
==And that perception all too often comes from stories like the one above.==
As a lifer, I beg to differ. The stories definitely don’t help. But everyone knows someone that has had a run-in. Everyone knows of something that happened on their block or close to it. Citywide.
Comment by de Gaulle Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:48 pm
===everyone knows someone that has had a run-in===
That has very little or even nothing to do with this post.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:52 pm
==That has very little or even nothing to do with this post.==
It has everything to do with the post. You can google, you can show stats, it doesn’t matter. There is a sentiment. The sentiment is real. Electeds should not ignore it.
Comment by de Gaulle Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:54 pm
===Electeds should not ignore it. ===
Still not sure what you’re talking about. They all empathized with the people at the hearing. What I’m saying is that when folks are wrong on the facts, that should be pointed out. That’s it. That’s the whole post.
You’ve been wrapped up in feelings over facts for so long (on other topics here) I think you may be starting to believe feelings are facts.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 12:56 pm
There is no evidence that harsher sentencing decreases crime rates. Time after time this has been studied. As Rich points out, the best deterrent is the likelihood of being caught, not the length of the sentence. CPD needs to do better, but none of us should hold our breath for that.
Comment by JJJJJJJJJJ Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 1:20 pm
@ de Gaulle
=== You can google, you can show stats, it doesn’t matter. There is a sentiment. The sentiment is real. ===
What is the source of that sentiment if stats and facts do not matter as you suggest here?
If the sentiment represents a false consciousness of reality, then the goal must be to correct the false interpretation of reality. To not do so makes less sense.
There is a sentiment among some that crime rates are rising because the hear that message in media stories and commentaries. If those stories are false, truisms, or other forms of inaccuracies, then the primary problem is the source providing false information. A secondary problem is a failure to verify false information.
What you are suggesting is that regardless of the problem, the false consciousness and misguided sensibilities are something else, and must be accepted as truths and justifiable resentments.
Unless the latter false consciousnesses, false facts, and misplaced sensibilities are challenged, we are damned to suggest racism, sexism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and all other beliefs must be accepted, tolerated and adopted.
The media has misrepresented crime trends and crime rates consistently for the past several news cycles. Letting people believe that they are likely to get overrun and harmed by organized criminal heists, or letting people believe that the strangers and immigrants are rapists violates all. Rather, than accept truisms and false beliefs as immediate causes of social malaise, we should instead confront the actual immediate causes - false stories and misleading commentaries.
Comment by H-W Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 1:50 pm
@ 10 Js
Absolutely. Most people who commit crimes do not pause and think about the consequences before they act. Much of human agency does not follow the “cost-benefits analysis” model, or follow exchange theoretical propositions. At most, people who commit crimes might pause to consider likelihood of getting caught. Harsher sentences does not reduce crime. If so, we would find proportionately less murder per capita in states that have the death penalty. I am pretty sure that remains not the case in America.
Comment by H-W Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 1:55 pm
“There is no evidence that harsher sentencing decreases crime rates. Time after time this has been studied.” JJJJJJJJJJ, in the spirit of the post–what studies are you referring to? My understanding is that boosting already long prison sentences is not an effective way to deter people from committing crimes–but findings are bit more nuanced when it comes to incapacitation. What’s more, public opinion research shows that while the general public is wildly ignorant of sentencing law and policy, support for tougher crime policies is not tied to this. Instead, support for punitive crime policies consistently tracks crime rates, and when crime spikes over a period of time, people tend to want to see harsher responses. The number of media stories about crime plays a role in shaping this response, but it does not drive it. See J Pickett’s 2019 article, Public Opinion and Criminal Justice Policy: Theory and Research
Comment by Interested observer Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 2:03 pm
- Too many people are re-presenting information from their favorite media outlets, rather than seeking out news and facts. -
The corrosive effect of The Internet crosses the computer/Human brain barrier?
The Internet is the quintessential example of The Double-Edged Sword.
Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 3:10 pm
- propagandists, pub pundits, and prevaricating politicians. -
That’s some pithy alliteration.
Comment by Dotnonymous x Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 3:17 pm
@Interested observer - In the spirit of this post, as Rich so eloquently stated, “Google is your friend.” First result when I searched for “study effect of longer sentences as deterrent” was a link to this: https://counciloncj.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Impact-of-Long-Sentences-on-Public-Safety.pdf
Go to the end notes, start with citation number 19.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 3:24 pm
Rich apologies, I was the Anonymous post at 3:24
Comment by Hombody Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 3:24 pm
= Most people who commit crimes do not pause and think about the consequences before they act. =
True. I would need no fingers to count the number of clients who chose to steal under the felony limit, or burglarize a car rather than a residence, or who measured the distance between the school and the corner where they dealt drugs, because of differences in sentencing.
Comment by JoanP Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 3:46 pm
Google would be great for reporters if they only knew it was available.
The legislators should know some of this better as it has been a sore subject for city legislators, especially since the Safe-T Act went into place. I would guess though if a legislator decided to get on their phone, to look up statutes on Google, the people at the forum would have something to say about them being on their phone.
Comment by Frida's boss Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 3:47 pm
@Hombody–google is your friend, but it’s also good to read and think about what it spits out. If you give it a try, you’ll see the report echoes exactly what I said above. The report even has a glossary if you don’t know what terms like deterrence and incapacitation means. Point is–social science research is typically not so simple or absolute as people make it out to be. Getting research citations from google can make people feel as if their thoughts and feeling suddenly become invested with extra authority, but unless you read and think about what google spits out, it’s no different than claiming to know something because you heard someone else say it. Other point I tried to make is that it’d be nice if people knew more about sentencing laws, or criminal justice research, but they don’t. Research on public opinion shows that what primarily drives support for punitive policies is when crime spikes over a period of time–not an inaccurate news article.
Comment by Interested observer Monday, Dec 11, 23 @ 4:27 pm