A longtime, consistent voice for public health, safety and youth issues, State Sen. Mattie Hunter (D-Chicago) saw her initiative calling for prevention of Chicago’s profound youth violence problem pass the Illinois Senate.

“Youth violence has devastated our nation as homicide is now the 2nd leading cause of death for youth ages 15 to 29, and the epidemic is particularly rampant in Chicago,” Hunter said. “We must act because the fact that more adolescents are killed in Chicago than any other U.S. city is simply unacceptable. We owe it to our children to do our utmost in protecting them.”

A longtime, consistent voice for public health, safety and youth issues, Sen. Mattie Hunter advanced her initiative calling for prevention of Chicago’s profound youth violence problem.

“Youth violence has devastated our nation as homicide is now the 2nd leading cause of death for youth ages 15 to 29, and the epidemic is particularly rampant in Chicago,” Hunter said. “We must act because the fact that more adolescents are killed in Chicago than any other U.S. city is simply unacceptable. We owe it to our children to do our utmost in protecting them.”

In an attempt to gather a comprehensive collection of racial data, police statewide would be required to identify, as accurately as possible, the ethnicity of all arrested under legislation State Senator Mattie Hunter  passed out of the Illinois Senate Wednesday.

“Previous to 2010, state police identified 99 percent of those arrested as either ‘Black’ or “White,’ leaving all other populations unaccounted for and ignored,” Hunter stated after the Senate approved the legislation unanimously. “With this measure, we will achieve greater documentation and understanding of the individuals being arrested in Illinois, for what particular crimes and be able to identify specific trends in arrests and incarceration.”