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CHICAGO (CBS)– City Council will be holding a Public Safety Hearing on carjackings Friday morning.
In just the first 21 days of the new year, there have been roughly 150 carjackings in Chicago.
Four more carjackings were reported within four hours across the city overnight.
Between 6:30 and 10:30 p.m, in Garfield Ridge, Bucktown, North Kenwood and South Austin residents were the victims of carjackings.
Each incident involved two men. Victims reported one of the men pointed a gun, before stealing their cars. It is not known if these incidents are connected.
City Council will be holding a Public Safety Hearing Friday morning. In just the first 21 days of the new year, there have been roughly 150 carjackings in Chicago.
An interactive map at this link shows the change in the number of carjackings in Chicago neighborhoods between 2019 and 2020.
CBS 2 talked with Alderman looking for answers and victims who are pushing for solutions not only for today, they want to tackle the root of the problem.
Victim Erin Groble is one of them, she was in her boyfriend Sam’s car when she was forcibly pulled out by two teenagers and carjacked in broad daylight on a Saturday afternoon.
She issued this letter to those at today’s City Council meeting:
“…I am crying and shaking just writing this and reliving it in my head, knowing that it could have been worse and that, too often, victims of carjackings are also physically harmed or killed…”
Groble told CBS 2 it can happen anywhere.
“It was really upsetting that it happened to me in a neighborhood where I previously felt very safe and that’s been taken from me,” she said.
Her boyfriend Sam hopes to speak at today’s meeting and wants to help find long term solutions. He said he reached out to the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab and has a virtual meeting Tuesday.
“We’re going to start talking about you know what we can do to deal with the systemic issues that we’re facing in Chicago,” he said.
Alderman Michelle Smith (43 Ward), who helped initiate Friday’s meeting, along with Alderman Scott Waguespack (32 Ward), both stress their need for more cooperation between the police, the States Attorney’s Office and the judges.
“I think we need to have that stronger pushback when it comes to the judges instead of getting a slap on the wrist that these people really get a sentence that’s going to deter them and future people from doing it,” Waguespack said.
Chicago police Superintendent David Brown held a new conference Thursday announcing a team approach to combat the recent increase in carjackings.
One of their biggest concerns is the age of these offenders with some as young as 12 years old. The average age of the robbers between 15 and 20 often working in crews using the stolen vehicle to commit other crimes.
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