Cops try to solve Chicago's murder problem by rounding up gang suspects

With more than 425 people killed so far this year in Chicago — more than twice as many compared to the same period in 2015 — police are cracking down on the city's gangs. More than 100 suspects were arrested in a series of raids on Thursday and Friday, mostly on felony drug and weapons charges, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The operation reportedly required six weeks of planning and targeted 15 different gang factions. Police officials wouldn't identify the gangs that were targeted by name, but Anthony Riccio, the department's organized crime chief, said 61 of the 101 people who were arrested are documented gang members.

"What we try to do is target the worst areas and some of the busiest districts and take down some of the gang members who were operating in those districts and driving the violence," Riccio said Friday at police headquarters, according to the Tribune. "The route we took is attacking them through the sale of narcotics. Narcotics is what funds these gangs."

Riccio said another 100 suspects will likely be arrested in the next week or so, continuing a spate of mass arrests that began in May, when 140 people from the city's crime-plagued West Side were detained on mostly drug and weapons charges. Another 88 people were arrested on similar charges ahead of the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Violent crime has spiked dramatically in Chicago this year. Beyond murders, which are up 50 percent compared to last year, the Tribune reports that the number of shootings has climbed 48 percent, from 1,443 incidents in the first eight months of 2015 to 2,136 so far this year.

According to the Tribune, most of those arrested in the recent police raids were listed on the Chicago Police Department's "Strategic Subject List." Their names ended up there because of a Minority Report-like computer algorithm that attempts to guess which citizens are most likely to commit crimes or become a victim of violence.

The methodology used in the making of the list has come under scrutiny, and its effectiveness is questionable. The Tribune quoted a study released last week by the RAND Corporation that said the list "does not appear to have been successful in reducing gun violence." The study also said the data used by police to make the list "raises privacy and civil rights concerns."

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