A week ago in Chicago, a police officer was killed, and another was stabbed the night before last. On the same night, a 14-year-old boy was shot while sitting in a car, and three more people were killed in 16 shootings across the city.
But this is nothing unusual for this city. Chicago has been the capital of American crime for a whole century, since the time of Al Capone and John Dillinger.
The situation hasn’t changed much since the Great Depression; crime has only advanced, and in Chicago, there are parts of the city where the police don’t even go, and which are ruled by local gangs.
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Unlike Los Angeles, where there are two large gangs that share territory, here a large number of smaller ones operate, calling themselves Families and Nations, and they are involved in everything from drug and arms trafficking to prostitution and racketeering…
The most famous are the Folk Nation, Almighty Family, Gangster Family, Insane Family, and unlike the gangs of 100 years ago, which were mostly made up of Italians and Irish, they are mostly made up of African Americans and criminals of Latino origin. There was also an Albanian criminal group, which has since disappeared from the streets of the “Windy City”.
More gangs mean more violence, more chaos, more bloodshed. The most tragic are usually weekends during major holidays, when up to twenty people can be killed in shootings. To be clear, we are talking exclusively about victims of crime, not domestic violence and other causes.
If you happen to find yourself in the southern part of the city, below 90th Street, you have to be prepared for anything and know some rules of conduct. There are neighborhoods where it is not recommended to stop at a stop sign or a red light, as this could put you in mortal danger.
The most dangerous is definitely the O Block, which is also called the capital of Chicago crime, and where former First Lady Michelle Obama was born…
Watch an exclusive report by our editor Antonije Kovačević about crime in Chicago…
Text: Antonije Kovačević Photo: BBC
Video: Vladimir Talijan
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