Toni Preckwinkle President at Cook County Government | Official website
Toni Preckwinkle President at Cook County Government | Official website
Cook County has introduced a new dashboard aimed at providing transparent access to data on opioid-related, gun-related, and temperature-related deaths. This initiative is designed to aid policymakers, health officials, and residents in understanding critical information about these issues.
The Medical Examiner Case Archive Dashboard was unveiled by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. "Opioids and guns are the two greatest causes of unnatural deaths in Cook County; they are also the most preventable," said Preckwinkle. "Cook County’s Black and Brown communities are most impacted by these deaths. The goal here is not to build dashboards with frightening statistics. The goal is to make the need for these dashboards obsolete."
In 2023, Black and Latino residents accounted for 72% of the 1,821 opioid-related deaths and 86% of the 942 gun-related deaths in Cook County.
The dashboard was developed through collaboration between the County’s Medical Examiner’s Office and the Bureau of Technology’s Geographic Information Systems team. It provides users with demographic information on age, gender, race, and ethnicity for those who have died from opioid, gun or temperature-related causes in Cook County. Users can also identify neighborhoods with higher death rates by viewing numbers and dates of death.
"The Bureau of Technology builds applications that provide transparency for the public and, more generally, open government," stated Cook County Chief Information Officer Tom Lynch. "We harness the demographics of our County – the populations and the regions in which they live – and apply our analytical skills to help agencies provide critical information to the public."
Additionally, users can filter data by municipality within Cook County and sort different types of deaths using existing case archive maps.
"It is our responsibility to share as much information about these victims and their environment as possible so that our partners in public health and law enforcement as well as policymakers and advocacy organizations can develop treatments, protocols, and legislation that can help to curb these deaths," explained Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Ponni Arunkumar. "Our ultimate goal is to extend the length and enhance the quality of life for every resident, regardless of their zip code."
To use the dashboard or see a demo visit: https://maps.cookcountyil.gov/medexammaps/.
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