It can't be easy to be a police officer in Chicago, where the murder rate is like a war zone, and where incitement against cops leads to "social media riots," where cops are fired upon based on false rumors spread on social media.

The horrific murder rate has been largely confined to two gang-infested neighborhoods, but the violence appears to be spreading.

With the City of Chicago nearly insolvent owing to burdensome pension agreements, police are apparently having to prioritize certain crimes over others – for instance, carjacking.  Examine the table below, drawn from the Second City Cop website, in particular the bottom line:

That's right: the reported incidents of carjacking have skyrocketed 180%, and arrests have declined 17%.  Gee, do you suppose that criminals know they are less likely to be arrested, and so they are offending with greater frequency?

Screen grab of Chicago police dashcam video of shootout with a violent carjacker.

As Rick Moran pointed out yesterday, in Baltimore, the change in police tactics following the riots there has led to a skyrocketing murder rate.

The subtext is unmistakable: authorities would rather avoid riots than prevent murder.  What has happened in cities like Baltimore and Chicago is that the tactical deployment of police has drastically changed.  Not only have patrols in high-crime areas been reduced, but officers, fearing the consequences of police brutality charges, have voluntarily cut back drastically on routine policing  tactics that used to take violent criminals off the street.

Yes, but at least there aren't any riots.

No riots – not yet, anyway.  But the decline in civil order we are witnessing is spreading, and people with the resources to do so are fleeing those areas.  Chicago ought to be haunted by the specter of Detroit.

Hat tip: Peter von Buol