Jerry Summers: Murder rate increased by 42% vs. 20%

Jerry Summers

After getting over the initial shock, the mayor of Hamilton County released a 14-page report with charts on August 13, titled “County Mayor Says Latest Hamilton County Report Shows Drug Deaths Down, Murders Up in City“My first step as a concerned citizen was to immediately print out the full report from a website, which stated that the percentage of murders in the community with a population of 374,682 was only 20 percent in 2022-2024 (January 1 to June 30) (chart, page 4), while his little brother/sister, etc., with a population of 184,086, will increase his killing percentage in the same two-year period to 41.67 percent on page 5 of the chart. (Two more murders on Rossville Boulevard and Crestway Drive on Saturday, August 17, will increase the percentage.)

To simplify the complexity of reproducing the long link to the County Mayor's website, the following excerpt from page 3, entitled “A Message from Mayor W_ _ _ _” is attached. Of course, a call to the friendly staff at (423) 209-6100 will quickly result in the caller receiving the full 14-page report with the crime reports attached:

“For example, while crime has declined overall across Hamilton County, homicides have increased in the city of Chattanooga. In the first half of 2024, homicides increased nearly 42 percent compared to 2022, while the number of non-fatal shootings in Chattanooga remained flat compared to the previous year. The harsh reality of violent crime in our community should challenge those of us in leadership positions to continue to seek paths to productive futures for our young men.”

While some skeptics may wish to embarrass the 1989 Columbia University (TK) graduate with a degree in Comparative German Literature on behalf of the 2009 UTK (WW) graduate with a degree in Communication Studies, the implications for citizens of both communities are troubling for Republicans, Democrats and Independents in 2024.

The multi-million or billion-dollar intertwining of government services and tax dollars between Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga cannot be ignored by a nice photo session or by self-serving press releases from friendly media outlets to readers and television audiences.

Murder statistics and crime are just part of the obvious friction between elected officials affecting citizens' rights in the areas of education, air, water and soil pollution, uncontrolled development, traffic problems, etc. These are regularly presented to the public with beautifully colored charts and rosy predictions of billions of dollars in benefits for a population shackled with the challenge of being able to pay for food, feed their families, provide shelter, etc.

(The feuds between Hatfield and McCoy were about physical violence. The conflict between Wamp and Kelly is about economic violence!)

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If you have additional information about any of Mr. Summers' articles, or have suggestions or ideas for a future historical article about the Chattanooga area, please contact him at [email protected].)