CBS's 60 MINUTES to Profile Chicago's Alarming Surge in Murders, 1/1

When 60 MINUTES went to Chicago to report on the alarming surge in murders, Bill Whitaker found an unusual trend that the city's former police superintendent calls a "huge problem." The number of times Chicago Police Officers stopped people on the street for questioning dropped by 80 percent and arrests were down a third in 2016 - this activity would usually rise with increase in violence. Whitaker's report will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES, Sunday, Jan. 1 (7:30-8:30 PM, ET/7:00-8:00 PM, PT) on the CBS Television Network.

In the six days 60 MINUTES spent in Chicago, 55 people were shot and 16 killed. More than 4,000 have been shot and more than 750 have been killed in the city this year-the number of murders is more than New York and Los Angeles combined. The falloff in police street stops over the same period worries former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. "When you have activity falling off the way it is and crime skyrocketing, that's a huge problem," says McCarthy, who left the department in late 2015. When told that some are calling the trend a crisis, McCarthy responds, "When people are dying, yes, there's crisis. No two ways about it." Watch the excerpt.

The fall-off in police activity is a result of many videos of police confrontations or shootings that were made public on social and mainstream media. The videos have fomented protests against police, leading many to speculate the officers are pulling back to avoid a harsh spotlight. Whitaker asks the new superintendent, Eddie Johnson, who allows his officers have been more "cautious," whether the fall-off is directly connected to the crime rate. "Well, you know, there may be some," he says, but the fall-off is more to do with stricter policies on stopping individuals and increased paperwork for stops brought on by ACLU scrutiny," says Johnson. "And the crime rate is the criminals and not his cops," he says, "...It's not what the police officers are not doing. It's more about what these...criminal offenders are doing."

A dozen beat cops who spoke to 60 MINUTES off camera say they have taken a step back. Former Chicago police officer Brian Warner, who was shot in the line of duty in 2011 and now counsels officers, explains, "You have a 911 call, you go to your 911 call. But if you're on-- aggressive patrol, when you're out looking for people breaking the law. That's not happening as much as it was," he tells Whitaker. "You say they are not being proactive," asks Whitaker. "No. They're not," responds Warner. "And how could you ask them to be? And why would you expect them to be?"

This worries McCarthy. "The police activity is horrific. Honestly. And there's not an excuse that could be made in my book," he says. "The noncompliance of the law is BECOMING legitimized. And the police are on their heels....We're reaching a state of lawlessness," McCarthy tells Whitaker.

Johnson is hiring and promoting a thousand cops to address the crime spree and he says he would discipline an officer found to be intentionally not doing their job, but he defends his officers. "This is a tough job. It's a dangerous job. But it's also a noble job."

Also on the broadcast, "Who makes the real Havana Club Rum?" Who should own the right to sell the liquor under the famous Havana Club brand name? Two companies are currently selling rum under the same name and for years have been battling it out in court for the right to the legendary brand. Sharyn Alfonsi goes to Cuba to report on the longtime feud, tracing its roots to the Cuban Revolution. "The Rum War" will be broadcast on the next edition of 60 MINUTES Sunday, Jan. 1 (7:30-8:30 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television network.

This bar fight began in 1959, when THE FAMILY making Havana Club had its business taken by Fidel Castro's revolutionary government. More than half a century later, one entity, Bacardi, makes rum in Puerto Rico and another, Pernod Ricard, makes it in Cuba in partnership with the Cuban Government. Both bottles say Havana Club Rum, both make a mean daiquiri - the rum drink said to have been invented in Cuba around the same time the Havana Club Rum brand emerged. But who should be the rightful owner of the fabled brand?

Images courtesy of CBS

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