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The Night Shift: One Reporter’s Life Covering Chicago’s Violent Crime
I felt dirty, short of breath, and my chest was tight. I could taste the stink of cigarette and weed smoke and liquor and had the smell of blood stuck on my tongue.
In our continuing quest to find ways to Make Ricochet Great Again, I’ve brought you another long-from article that I encourage you to read in its entirety. This one, “Three Years of Nights,” is from Chicago Magazine. Its author, Peter Nickeas, spent three years working the overnight violent crime beat for the Chicago Tribune and the time obviously marked him. By the end of the article, I think a little of what he saw will mark you too.
I couldn’t help but think about the failures that have allowed things to deteriorate to the point that I can read about the death of a three-year-old and just nod my head sadly while I read. Is there an answer to this violence? I don’t know. Maybe it’s more cops, better schools, more enforcement. Maybe it’s more legalization, greater leeway, greater choice.
But we have to look at problems before we can look for solutions and, increasingly, it seems we aren’t willing to do that. Reading the piece you get heartbreaking details about the victims and you realize that they aren’t household names, aren’t exceptions to be nationally remarked upon, and are written about only because their deaths don’t seem to matter to the cause of the day.
Read the whole article; it’s riveting and draining. At the end, it seems Nicekas gotten out and feels relieved. And the worst part of the article is that we feel relieved too, to get out of the world he’s written about and back into the uplands where the sun shines and people can smile and be happy. But the world he draws you into — the late night violence, the dead children in the wrong place at the wrong time, the emptiness left in the eyes of a father after praying over the body of his nineteen-year-old son — is still there.
It’s worth remembering that.
Published in Journalism
Oh my. Thanks for posting. I’ve recommended this for the Main Feed – it surely belongs.
My musings maybe not so much but the piece itself certainly does. Thanks for the recommendation!
Maybe, but maybe just better policing. We know how. NY used to be barely livable and became so safe that people were studying in Morningside Park when my son visited Columbia. (When I was in law school orientation there in the 80s we were told not to ever even think about going into the park.) Chicago has voluntarily abandoned broken windows policing.
Yeah, but that means at least charter schools and vouchers, the destruction of the NEA – no chance of that if Hillary is elected.
Of drugs – yes, of course. We’ve been through this before – prohibition doesn’t stop people from trying to anesthetize themselves from their problems, but does create a lucrative market open only to those willing to break laws. Needless to say the competition doesn’t quiet follow Marquis of Queensbury rules.
But it comes down to a spiritual problem within society. Our elites have largely abandoned faith in God and elevated themselves into the vacuum. Things haven’t worked out as expected. Of course, they never do (see, e.g., Babel, et al).
What has been seen cannot be unseen. I hope the change in venue and his wife help this young man survive. I pray for him just as I pray for the cops, the EMTs, the firefighters and the MEs who deal with this stuff night after night, day after day.
In the end, though, the press votes for, works for, and elevates the people and the party whose policies facilitate the killing.
William “Big Bill” Hale Thompson was the last Republican mayor of Chicago in 1931. And he was corrupt as all hell, too.
I do want to point out that the legalization of marijuana has not stopped the black market for the drug in Colorado because legalization has been accompanied by a sin tax.
If you can supply something illegally for less than it can be acquired legally there will be crime, which will eventually turn violent.
Peter Nickeas wrote a good article. I’ve been to homicide scenes and after we did our jobs we had the firefighters hose down the street. It’s a bit surreal. My partner and I were the first to arrive at the scene of a house fire we got one adult and a child out. Two little boys in the back of the house didn’t make it. I have written about some of my stories, I still can’t bring myself to write about the house fire, maybe someday. It’s an interesting world.
I think this overstates the case. Alcohol and cigarettes are also subject to sin taxes and there are black markets for those as well, but they are dramatically less violent than black markets for banned goods. The most notable violence in the black market for cigarettes has involved police enforcement of the law.
Fun fact: cigarette smugglers often use their profits to fund terrorism.
I would think any black market fuels crime, and eventually violent crime, simply because it creates a scenario where there are disincentives for victims to turn to law enforcement.
Whew, that was a heartbreaking but worthwhile read. Thanks, Austin.
Eugene Richards’ “Knife and Gun Club” was my eye-opener on this, and one of the most astonishing pieces of photojournalism ever created.
I haven’t seen that, is it available online?
Yep. Keep in mind this was done in the early 80’s, so we’re talking Tri-X and f1.2 (at best) lenses here. None of this “It’s too dark, so I’ll crank up the ISO to 16800” stuff back then. Unbelievable work.
Thanks!
Thanks for the reference. I looked it up and it does look interesting.
Saw this on the Second City Cop Blog. Great article. Old saying in EMS and ER,
“Nothing good happens after midnight”.
I imagined that the police faced a dreadful situation in rough neighborhoods. This article was far, far worse than my imagination. It sounds like a war zone, or worse. Roving packs of rabid, bloodthirsty wolves. And the sheep they slaughter keep complaining about the shepherds and protecting the wolves.
Are things this bad in many larger cities, or is Chicago a special case? I really have no idea. I feel as if I live in an entirely different world.
Chicago is one of the most violent cities in the country, so it’s worse there than many places.
But I would imagine any big city cop has stories like this.
Sobering.
Camden and Newark, New Jersey were long like Chicago, as are Memphis, St.Louis and others. In Camden’s case, Christie set up a county-wide police force to replace Camden’s Police Department, which has helped somewhat.
Or are the complainers just a different pack of wolves?