2nd Inmate in 4 Days Hangs Self in Lockup

In the second time in four days an inmate in a Chicago police lock up has been found dead, hanging in their police jail cell.  This morning, Melvin Woods, was found hanging in his jail cell at the police station on 111th Street.  He was pronounced dead on the scene.  Woods had been arrested last night and charged with an Aggravated Assault after police responded to a domestic incident with his girlfriend at his home.  Woods was found hanging by his underwear at about 1:30 this morning.  On Thursday morning, also at 1:30 in the morning, another inmate was found hanging in his jail cell.  He was being held for the murder of a store security guard at an Aldi.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Forbes Most Dangerous Cities

Forbes Magazine has released their list of the country's most dangerous cities.  In order to qualify, a city has to meet some basic criteria.  The city must have a population greater than 200,000.  The statistics are compiled by looking at the number of violent crimes per 100,000 citizens.  Violent crimes is defined as murder, voluntary manslaughter, forcible rape, armed robbery and aggravated assault.  The top five cities are set forth as follows:

1.  Detroit, Michigan - First place with 345 murders and 1,111 violent crimes per 100,000 citizens.  

2.  Memphis, Tennessee - The poorest large city in the United States.

3.  Springfield, Illinois - Springfield just barely qualified to be included in this survey because they only have a population of 206,601.  The high crime rate is associated with the fact that 44% of Springfield's population is under the age of 44.  Crime is associated with the youth.

4.  Flint, Michigan - High unemployment for a long period of time.

5.  Anchorage, Alaska - Anchorage has been hit by a big methamphetamine problem.  Plus, there is a high rate of forcible rapes.

Rounding out the top ten is Lubbock, Texas at number 6, Stockton, California at number 7, Tallahassee, Florida at number 8, Las Vegas, Nevada at number 9, and Rockford, Illinois at number 10.  

Other than Michigan, Illinois is the only other state with the distinction of having 2 of its cities on the top 10 list of the country's most dangerous cities.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295. 

Violent Crimes and Property Crimes Decreasing Nationally

For the third consecutive year, violent crimes decreased in 2009 according to statistics released by the FBI.  For the seventh consecutive year property crimes decreased as well.  Compared to 2008, the number of violent and property crimes decreased by 5.3 percent and 4.6 percent when compared to 2008.  The violent crime rate for 2009 was 429.4 per 100,000 people, a decrease of 6.1 percent from 2008.  Nationwide, in 2009, a total of 1,318,398 violent crimes were reported.  Violent crime is defined as murder, manslaughter, robbery and aggravated assault.  All four categories of violent crime showed a decline.  The largest decreases were in murder and manslaughter.  Murders decreased by 7.3 percent and manslaughter decreased by 0.8 percent.  Aggravated Assault decreased by 4.2 percent.  9,320,971 property crimes were reported in 2009.  Motor Vehicle Thefts decreased by 17.1 percent, thefts decreased by 4 percent and burglaries decreased by 1.3 percent.

All of these statistics are compiled by the FBI by gathering information provided by local police agencies throughout the United States.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

FBI Stats Show Third Year Of Drop In Violent Crime Rate

Today, the FBI released some figures which reflect a drop in the violent crime rate nationally for the third year in a row.  According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, the violent crime rate dropped 5.5% when compared to 2008.  The property crime rate declined by 4.9%.  The violent crime rate fell in all four categories, including murder and manslaughter, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.  The crime rate declined in all metropolitan areas with big cities showing the biggest decrease of 7.5%.  It should be noted that the decrease in property crimes is the 7th year in a row of decreases in the property crime rate.  The report is considered preliminary and will be made official later this year when the final statistics are released by the FBI. 

The decrease in the crime rate looks to be continuing.  In December of 2009, the FBI released some preliminary numbers which indicated that the violent crime rate had decreased in the first 6 months of 2009 when compared to 2008.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Preliminary Crime Statistics for 2008 Released

The FBI today released it's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report. The report is showing a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 1.7 percent decrease in the number of property crimes from 2008 to 2007. All four of the violent crime offenses, murder, rape, aggravated assault, and robbery all decreased nationally. Violent crimes in all city sizes decreased. Murders dropped in the larger cities but in cities with populations less than 100,000, the murder rate increased 5.5%. When it comes to property crimes, there were overall decreases in these crimes as well. The only crime that saw an increase was Burglary which increased by 1.3%. Property crimes decreased in all but one Region of the United States. Property crimes increased by 1.6 percent in the Northeast. Arsons decreased by 3.9% nationally.

Overall, the preliminary results show that crime is generally down. To view all the crime reports from 1995 to 1998, click here.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C. visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Final 2008 Crime Statistics Show Troubling Trends

Readers of this blog know that we have been keeping a periodic eye on the violent crime trends in the City of Chicago throughout 2008. The Chicago Police just released their final figures for violent crime in 2008 and the numbers point to a troubling increase in many violent crime categories. There were a total of 510 murders last year. Of those murders, the police believe that 229 of them were gang related. There's at least one estimate that at least 100,000 gang members live in the city. Of the 510 murder victims, 310 had criminal records and 40 percent were killed with guns. There was also an increase in the number of Robbery, Theft and Burglary cases in 2008. The number of murders increased by 14.6 percent, robbery increased by 7.8 percent and burglary was up by 4.8 percent. The total increase in crime was 2.5 percent, the violent crime rate increased by 2.1 percent, and property crimes increased by 2.6 percent. In light of all these increases, there was some good news. Criminal Sexual Assaults, Aggravated Battery and Aggravated Assault decreased in 2008. Arsons were down 9.1 percent.

It will be interesting to see what these numbers look like like in 2009. There is no doubt that we are in the midst of some tough economic times. Generally, crime rates increase during times like these. The Chicago Police have targeted combating gang crime and have set up special units to try to lower the rate of violent crimes.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Supreme Court Agrees to Hear DNA Case

The United States Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving the question of whether a defendant has a constitutional right to test genetic evidence found at the scene years after he was convicted. The case is District Attorney's Office v. Osborne, 08-6. William Osborne was convicted of rape, kidnapping and assault on a prostitute that occurred in 1993 in Alaska. William Osborne admitted his guilt when he appeared before the parole board in 2004. Another man was also convicted in the attack and has stated that William Osborne participated in the attack. A condom and hairs were found at the scene but the advanced DNA testing that is available today was not available at the time of William Osborne's trial. William Osborne is now seeking to subject the condom and hairs to the advanced DNA testing that is available today. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Osborne has a right to subject the evidence to such testing. The Alaska prosecutors are objecting to this request arguing that even if the testing determines that the hair and condom are not Osborne's, there was additional evidence introduced at trial to leave no doubt as to his guilt.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Chicago Violent Crime Rate Continues Moving Up

Readers of this blog know that we have been reporting on the violent crime rate in the City of Chicago for several months. In a report issued by the Chicago Police on Friday, the murder rate and the violent crime rate is continuing to increase. Even though the violent crimes rates have been increasing, they are still among the lowest in many decades. Through the end of October, Chicago had 441 murders. Last year, the total number of murders was 443. It should be noted that since the end of October, 5 more murders have been reported to have occurred, meaning that Chicago 2008 murder rate has surpassed the 2007 murder rate. Chicago is an a contest with New York for the title of the highest number of murders in 2008. New York's murder rate is just about tied with Chicago. In comparison, Los Angeles's murders are at 321 for the year.

Overall crime has increased 3.5 percent and the violent crime rate has increased 3.6 percent from last year. The number of Criminal Sexual Assaults (Rapes), Aggravated Battery and Arson are down while the number of Robbery and Aggravated Assault are up.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.

Violent Crime Rates Drop Nationally

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice released a report indicating that violent crime rates have decreased. According to the Department of Justice, the violent crime rate dropped 0.7% from 2006 to 2007. This drop follows two years of increases in the violent crime rate. In 2005 the violent crime rate increased 2.3% and in 2006 it increased 1.3%. Between 2006 and 2007, the rate of rapes dropped 2.5%. The number of murders dropped 0.6%, aggravated assaults dropped by 0.6% and robberies decreased by 0.5%. Additionally, the violent crime rate dropped in every region of the country except for the South, where the violent crime rate actually increased by 1.6%. These numbers fly in the face of our blog of August 7, 2008 which talked about the violent crime statistics released by the Chicago Police Department which points to a big increase in violent crime rates in the City of Chicago. As a matter of fact, the City of Chicago is on pace to set a new murder record for 2008.

For information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.