Big City Gun Violence Continues in the Homestretch of Summer

1,453 Shootings - 439 Killed - 1,524 Injured in 15 Big Cities Past 12 Weekends
The D&D Daily's Big City Weekend Violence Study - Memorial Day to Labor Day

The Daily's study analyzes weekend shooting data in 15 major U.S. cities from Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day Weekend 2022

Starting Memorial Day Weekend, the D&D Daily began compiling and analyzing data from 15 major U.S. cities to get a snapshot of summer gun violence.

This past weekend, from August 12th through August 14th, there were 113 shootings recorded in these same cities, resulting in 30 deaths and 123 injuries.

The chart below shows the totals for each of the past 12 weekends dating back to Memorial Day weekend.

The D&D Daily will continue to track this data throughout the summer to capture the weekend violence trend in our nation's big cities as warm weather typically brings about more crime and violence.

Click here to see the list of incidents per city and follow along each week this summer as this spreadsheet will be updated every Monday. docs.google.com

Read more coverage about America's crime and gun violence epidemic in the section below
 

Shoplifting & Shootings Surge as NYC Businesses Demand Bail Law Changes
‘Enough is enough’ – Bronx business leaders demand change in state bail laws
Faced with a surge in shoplifting crimes and shootings in the South Bronx, local business leaders and small business owners gathered outside the Police Athletic League on Longwood Avenue Tuesday — ahead of Mayor Eric Adams’ community conversation on public safety — to call on the state Legislature to change the current bail reform laws.

The press conference came four days after a group of delinquents robbed Rocco’s Jewelry in the Fordham Manor section of the Bronx, stealing more than $2 million worth of diamonds in a brazen smash and grab heist.

Business leaders and owners made it clear that they support the mayor’s push for New York state to change its bail laws to address recent spikes in major crimes, which are up more than 35% citywide this year.

Clearly fed up with the rise in crime and the lax bail laws, Wilma Alonso, executive director of the Fordham Road Business Improvement District, said that it was “crazy to see how somebody can do something in 30 minutes.” Alonso demanded that the state, governor and locally elected officials at the state level change the bail laws.

Alonso also shared that one Marshalls department store in the Bronx reported a profit loss of $4.2 million due to theft. “It [Marshalls] was empty. They took even the hangers out of the racks,” Alonso said. “And that happened to Old Navy, Macy’s, Burlington.”

Mario DeGiorgio, born and raised in the Bronx and owner of Kid City Store and Youngland, returned to the store last September after five years of retirement. He said he was disgusted with what he saw and had to bring in private security because of the extent of shoplifting.

Frank Bagatta, owner of North End Wine and Liquor, said the city was going backward instead of forward and appealed for “law and order.” Three years ago, the state Legislature passed bail reform ending the assessment of cash bail in most cases involving misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. bxtimes.com

Surging NYC Crime is Raising Fears about Returning to Work
A spate of horrific attacks in New York has people fearful of returning to work
After several horrific attacks in the city's subway system this year, workers are telling their employers they are afraid to come back to work. In two meetings this year, some of the city's most powerful CEOs confronted Mayor Eric Adams, demanding answers, according to Kathryn Wylde, the president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, who arranged the meetings.

"The executives came out very strong, saying, 'We can't in conscience bring our people back to work, encourage them to ride the subways, unless we see tangible evidence that you are doing something about this,'" she recalls.

What the numbers show

Police statistics show that there have been fewer murders at this point than last year, when the country was emerging from the lockdowns that characterized much of 2020. Still, the number of murders is sharply higher than at the same time in 2019, before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the number of felony assaults is up year to date compared to both 2021 and 2019. And although New York City's crime numbers are still historically low, almost half of registered voters who responded to a recent Quinnipiac poll said crime is "the most urgent issue facing New York City today."

Wall Street executives are also worried

The killings of Go and Enriquez have also shaken Wall Street, because they both worked for big financial institutions. Financial firms have also been prominent in pushing workers to return to their offices.

New York City is not alone in dealing with public safety issues. Billionaire Ken Griffin recently decided to move Citadel's headquarters from Chicago to Miami, citing the city's longstanding problems with crime.

The worries about the city's future

When Wall Street executives talk about return-to-office plans, they often emphasize how important it is for young people to get back to the office so they don't miss out on mentoring and other career opportunities.

And executives like Wylde worry that New York City could lose some of its appeal to companies and workers if the worries about safety continue to take hold. npr.org

Theft Pushing Some Stores to the Brink of Closure
Rise in retail crime threatens businesses nationwide
Businesses across the country — from locally-owned shops to retail giants — are continuing to battle a wave of organized theft. In Seattle, police tell KOMO that they have responded to more than 2,700 calls for shoplifting so far this year. That’s one call every two hours.

Theft has gotten so bad at one Seattle Trader Joe’s that the popular grocer announced this week that it is no longer selling liquor at its Capitol Hill location. In nearby Bellevue, police just released surveillance video showing a shocking smash-and-grab at Louis Vuitton. The video shows several accused thieves ripping handbags off the shelves and running off.

One of the accused suspects, Billy G. Chambers, was convicted in the 2008 murder of a Seattle street performer, known as the "Tuba Man." According to the National Retail Federation, organized retail crime costs businesses $700,000 for every billion in sales.

In Baltimore, a cherished community grocery store almost closed its doors due to a rash of retail thefts. Staff at Eddie’s Mount Vernon recently replaced multiple glass panels after thieves threw rocks through store windows. Back-to-back break-ins led to the permanent loss of the store’s ATM.

The store owner posted a sign that they'd be closing after more than two decades but has since decided to remain open. katv.com

Mass Shootings Get the Attention - But Other Gun Crimes Cause More Deaths
US is trying to stop mass shootings. How about other gun crimes?
This summer, for the first time in three decades, Congress passed legislation aimed at reducing gun violence, after a spate of mass shootings shook the nation – including one at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and another at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Nineteen children getting killed inside their classroom is the “kind of cataclysm that moves people to action,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, a lead negotiator for the bill, told the Monitor.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act will provide funding for states to implement red flag laws, enhance screening processes for gun purchasers under the age of 21, and prevent those convicted of domestic abuse from owning a gun for a period of time, along with channeling billions of dollars into mental health and school safety.

Ms. Rice applauds the measure and hopes it will prevent more mass shootings like the one in Uvalde. But she doesn’t believe it will have much impact on communities like hers and the gun violence that happens there “every single day.”

Activists and experts cite a variety of measures they think would help address the problem, from community policing to gun licensing laws. But first, many say, there needs to be a broader acknowledgement of the prevalence of this type of gun violence – and the lower-income, majority Black neighborhoods that are most impacted by it. Mass shootings – which comprised 38 of the record 45,222 U.S. gun deaths recorded by the FBI in 2020 – receive an outsize proportion of public attention due to their shocking nature. To make communities like Hartford safer, they say, would require sustained attention to the other kind of violent crime that too often is ignored.

“I think America is taking mass shootings seriously, but I don’t think they’re taking community-level gun violence seriously,” says Ms. Rice. “And that needs to change.” csmonitor.com

San Francisco DA Race Heats Up
‘I am not Chesa Boudin’: John Hamasaki, firebrand former S.F. police commissioner, plans to run for D.A
John Hamasaki, a criminal defense attorney and a former San Francisco police commissioner is planning to run for district attorney in this fall’s special election, positioning himself as an ideological foil to newly appointed District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. sfchronicle.com

Redmond Police continue partnerships with local businesses to deter shoplifting

Rise in retail crime causing Eddie's of Mount Vernon to consider closing

US: 94.6M Cases - 1M Dead - 89.9M Recovered
Worldwide: 595.4M Cases - 6.4M Dead - 568.8M Recovered

Private Industry Security Guard Deaths: 362  
Law Enforcement Officer Deaths: 793
*Red indicates change in total deaths

Cases & Deaths Declining Across U.S.
US COVID-19 cases fall for 3rd week
The nation's seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases decreased by nearly 14 percent this week, marking the third consecutive week of decline, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Aug. 12.

As of Aug. 10, the nation's seven-day case average was 103,614, a 13.8 percent decrease from the previous week's average. As of Aug. 11, 39.6 percent of counties, districts or territories had high community levels of COVID-19, a 2.1 percentage point decrease from the week prior.

The seven-day hospitalization average for Aug. 3-9 was 6,003, a 2.6 percent decrease from the previous week's average. The current seven-day death average is 400, down 6.7 percent from the previous week's average. Some historical deaths have been excluded from these counts, the CDC said. beckershospitalreview.com

Making COVID a Workplace Disease
UK: Government urged to classify Covid as an occupational disease

TUC calls on Department for Work and Pensions to make move to help workers access key benefits

Ministers should urgently classify Covid-19 as an occupational disease to prompt employers to reduce the risk of exposure and help workers access key benefits, the TUC has said. The UK is out of step with other major countries that have recognised Covid as a disease that people can get in the course of their work, especially in certain sectors, it says. The NHS is facing worst workforce crisis in its history, according to a damning report by the Commons health and social care committee.

The umbrella body for British trade unions is urging the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to use its powers to “prescribe” Covid. If the DWP agrees, Covid would be treated the same as, for example, a disease related to workplace exposure such as asbestos-related cancer, which is a known risk for people who have worked in construction or firefighting.

“If you become sick due to your work, with life-changing consequences, you should get proper support. But ministers have still not added Covid to the list of occupational diseases,” she said. “Two years into this pandemic that is shocking negligence. And it leaves workers unfairly exposed.” theguardian.com

Pandemic Burnout Hitting Workplaces
Quiet quitting: Employees suffering pandemic burnout say they've just stopped working as hard
Burned out after logging excessive hours or duties during COVID-19, workers are resolving to meet their job requirements but not go beyond. No toiling late into the night. No calls on weekends. And no pushing themselves to the brink even during regular business hours.

Their determination to stick to their job descriptions has been made possible by widespread labor shortages that have given workers unprecedented leverage over employers.

“Employees are saying, ‘I’m not going to define myself by traditional markers of career progression and success,’” says Mark Royal, senior client partner for Korn Ferry, a recruiting and human resource consulting firm. “I’m going to put a box around work.” usatoday.com

Australia: Study finds retail industry has been ‘completely reshaped’ by tech, Covid

Covid: Professor warns of two new ‘telltale’ symptoms as cases rise