According to the Chicago Police Department, they’re at the center of the city’s recent outbreak of gun violence — more than 115 of the most dangerous gang members, nearly two dozen of whom are “at least 300 times more likely than the average person to become a victim or offender of violence,” according to a May 21 Chicago Tribune article.
During an early morning raid last Thursday in the West Side’s 11th and 15th police districts, Chicago police arrested 140 people, including the 115 men on CPD’s “strategic subject list,” which includes roughly 1,300 of the people most likely to commit violent crimes.
The department’s ranking system is based on an algorithm that takes into account an individual’s criminal background, arrest history and peer circle, among other factors. Along with the arrests, officers seized more than $45,000 worth of cocaine and heroin, and more than 20 illegal guns, in according to the Tribune.
Among the individuals arrested, roughly 95 were documented gang members, most of whom were associated with the Traveling Vice Lord and Four Corner Hustler street gangs. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi called the raid one of the largest in the city’s history.
The Tribune reported that CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson hailed the raid as a “major mission” in the department’s attempt to stanch the gun-related bleeding ahead of the coming summer months.
“I’m always concerned about upticks in violence and, you know, with the warmer weather, you’re gonna have more people out there and more possibilities for disturbances,” Johnson said after the West Side raid.
