Public security in some major U.S. cities continues to deteriorate

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, as of August 28, the number of people who died in Chicago from gun violence and other crimes this year has reached 394, with 50 people killed in August alone. On the weekend of August 19 and 20, more than 10 shootings occurred in Chicago, killing 7 people and injuring 33 people. The victims ranged in age from 18 to 46. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that various crimes in Chicago are frequent, and the social security situation is worrying. The Illinois Policy Institute in the United States recently published an article saying that crime in Chicago soared in 2022. According to a report from the Chicago Police Department, the crime rate in Chicago has risen by nearly 20% overall in the past five years. Last year, Chicago’s overall crime rate surged 41%. Since 2018, car thefts have increased by 114% and other thefts have increased by 32%. In a recent poll, nearly two-thirds of Chicago voters said they felt unsafe. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that half of Chicagoans had witnessed shootings before the age of 40. The figures look even worse if broken down by race, with African Americans and Hispanics showing significantly more data than whites. The probability of a shooting within 250 meters of a black residence is more than 12 times that of a white residence. “Our findings are shocking and disturbing,” said Charles Lanphier, an assistant professor at the Institute of Criminology at the University of Cambridge in the UK and the author of the study. “We expected people to be exposed to gun violence at a high level, but we didn’t expect it to be so high.” Lanphier said that the stress of long-term exposure to gun violence can lead to a variety of problems, from lower test scores for students to lower life expectancy. Matt Richards, deputy director of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said: “Gun violence is also a serious public health problem, and its impact will have a domino effect throughout the community.” The security situation in Philadelphia is also not optimistic. On the weekend of August 26 and 27, several shootings occurred in Philadelphia, killing three people and injuring many others. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that various crimes such as gun violence have seriously impacted Philadelphia’s social security. Many people in Philadelphia are often “frightened” and some have planned to leave the city. Joshua Sanchez, a 38-year-old Philadelphia resident, was surrounded and robbed by a group of people outside a bank three years ago. The robbers shot Sanchez in the back before escaping. Until now, the bullet is still in Sanchez’s body and cannot be removed. He said that he often hears gunshots at home and on the construction site, and he is very worried about the healthy growth of his children. He said: “I just sold my house and have decided to leave Philadelphia with my family.” Douglas McKinnon, an American political and communications consultant, published an article on the website of The Hill that the deteriorating social security in some large cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia is worthy of vigilance, especially the living conditions of young people urgently need to be paid attention to. Many children often have to face the harsh reality around them, including violent crime, drug abuse, poverty, homelessness, mental illness and even death threats.