In Rahm Emanuel’s short tenure as mayor of Chicago, he has on occasion butted heads with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. But this week, they were in agreement when Quinn signed a law that will be especially valuable to Chicago, an Illinois version of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law. It is needed too. As of today, there were 20 homicides in Chicago this month with most being gang-related and comparable to Chicago’s 44 homicides in June of 2011.
In what has lately been a rare sighting, both Quinn and Emanuel announced the signing of the law earlier this week. They were joined by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who initiated the legislation, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and numerous other officials to laud the praises of House Bill 1907, which was sponsored by State Senator Tony Munoz (D-Chicago) and State Representative Mike Zalewski (D-Chicago). The law essentially allows the prosecution of street gang leaders for criminal acts conducted by their organizations. This puts the onus of any crimes committed by a gang member on the gang leadership and permits the “bundling” of criminal acts committed by individual gang members to be treated as part of a larger criminal enterprise. The rationale for enacting the law include:
• According to the Chicago Police Department, Chicago has the largest gang population in the nation, estimated to be hundreds of factions comprising 100,000 members;
• Estimations that 75-80% of the city’s homicides are gang-related; and
• In terms of perspective and impact on a neighborhood, the 60 homicides in 2011 in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood were more than half of the totals for entire cities such as Washington, D.C., Oakland, California and Cleveland, Ohio.
This problem dates back to Emanuel’s immediate predecessor, Richard M. Daley, when the murders of Chicago Public School students reached crisis levels. In the school years that ended in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the respective numbers of Chicago Public School students murdered were 27, 31 and 36. In terms of the general population, it reached an infamous peak in April of 2010 when 41 people were shot in a 26-hour period with 16 shot during just two hours in that slightly more than one-day time-period.
The new law will add another tool to actions the Illinois Statehouse has taken to assist in addressing the gang violence problem. In 2010, the Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 96-0199 which established that the recruitment of minors into street gangs be considered a Class 1 felony and Public Act 96-0829 which mandated that street gang members convicted of possessing a loaded gun in a public area must serve prison time.
Under the new Illinois RICO law, gang members convicted of the new “criminal conspiracy” parameters could face more than 30 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 or twice the gross amount of any criminal proceeds. It takes effect immediately, although it will not be in time to prevent Chicago from equaling or topping the 44 homicides in June of 2011 this month. But, it may prevent that number from being reached in June of 2013.
In Rahm Emanuel’s short tenure as mayor of Chicago, he has on occasion butted heads with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn. But this week, they were in agreement when Quinn signed a law that will be especially valuable to Chicago, an Illinois version of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law. It is needed too. As of today, there were 20 homicides in Chicago this month with most being gang-related and comparable to Chicago’s 44 homicides in June of 2011.
In what has lately been a rare sighting, both Quinn and Emanuel announced the signing of the law earlier this week. They were joined by Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, who initiated the legislation, Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and numerous other officials to laud the praises of House Bill 1907, which was sponsored by State Senator Tony Munoz (D-Chicago) and State Representative Mike Zalewski (D-Chicago). The law essentially allows the prosecution of street gang leaders for criminal acts conducted by their organizations. This puts the onus of any crimes committed by a gang member on the gang leadership and permits the “bundling” of criminal acts committed by individual gang members to be treated as part of a larger criminal enterprise. The rationale for enacting the law include:
• According to the Chicago Police Department, Chicago has the largest gang population in the nation, estimated to be hundreds of factions comprising 100,000 members;
• Estimations that 75-80% of the city’s homicides are gang-related; and
• In terms of perspective and impact on a neighborhood, the 60 homicides in 2011 in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood were more than half of the totals for entire cities such as Washington, D.C., Oakland, California and Cleveland, Ohio.
This problem dates back to Emanuel’s immediate predecessor, Richard M. Daley, when the murders of Chicago Public School students reached crisis levels. In the school years that ended in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the respective numbers of Chicago Public School students murdered were 27, 31 and 36. In terms of the general population, it reached an infamous peak in April of 2010 when 41 people were shot in a 26-hour period with 16 shot during just two hours in that slightly more than one-day time-period.
The new law will add another tool to actions the Illinois Statehouse has taken to assist in addressing the gang violence problem. In 2010, the Illinois General Assembly passed Public Act 96-0199 which established that the recruitment of minors into street gangs be considered a Class 1 felony and Public Act 96-0829 which mandated that street gang members convicted of possessing a loaded gun in a public area must serve prison time.
Under the new Illinois RICO law, gang members convicted of the new “criminal conspiracy” parameters could face more than 30 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 or twice the gross amount of any criminal proceeds. It takes effect immediately, although it will not be in time to prevent Chicago from equaling or topping the 44 homicides in June of 2011 this month. But, it may prevent that number from being reached in June of 2013.
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