At last we know why Chicago’s homicide level is so out of control: Gangs, not police control the streets. The gangs know it; the police know it; and now, thanks to DNAinfo.com/Chicago, we know it.  A week ago, Chicago street gangs held a huge party in a park, with a thousand people attending, some brandishing firearms, terrifying neighbors for hours. The police sent 25 squad cars, yet were outnumbered and unable to really do anything.  Stephanie Lulay wrote:

 A raucous and "very dangerous" gang party that brought 1,000 people to a Near West Side park late Sunday was so out of control, Chicago police struggled to shut it down, one alderman said. 

Despite calling for police and politicians to address notoriously loud and sometimes violent gang parties for years, neighbors living near Touhy-Herbert Park report that this weekend's massive all-night party that spilled over into the streets was worse than ever. (snip)

One area neighbor called the out-of-control party "Armageddon." 

"Sheer madness, chaos, bedlam, insanity!!!!!" she wrote on Facebook. "It was literally like '[a] calling in the National Guard and SWAT team' situation. It was a party riot." 

"It looks like a club ... but in the street," another neighbor remarked. 

There is a lot more in the article worth reading. It appears that open gang celebrations have been a fact of life in Chicago for some time.

Obviously, there is no political will to take back control of the streets. So everyone gets the message that gangs rule. No wonder the murder problem isn’t getting solved.

It would take a lot of money and even more guts to really address what ails Chicago. Effective countermeasures would be called police state tactics and worse. I see no reason for any optimism.  Chicago will remain a meatgrinder for urban youth. It is very hard to think of this city as "functional."

Hat tip: Peter von Buol