CHICAGO — Chicago saw its fewest murders since 1965 in 2014, part of an overall trend in declining crime, police said Thursday. Despite the gains the city made in decreasing violent and property crimes, the number of shootings rose.
“While we continue to make progress in reducing overall crime and have had the fewest murders since 1965, we know there’s much more work to be done,” said Supt. Garry McCarthy in a statement. “We will continue to do our part by building on our community policing efforts, fostering stronger relationships with the residents we serve, putting more officers in high crime areas, and proactively intervening in gang conflicts. But we remain challenged by the flow of illegal guns into our communities and until we have better laws to help keep illegal guns off our streets we will face an uphill battle.”
Homicides dropped 3 percent versus 2013, police said.
As of Dec. 20, Chicago Police counted 390 murders in 2014, compared with 406 the previous year and 488 through the same period in 2012. A DNAinfo Chicago analysis of homicides puts the tally at 425, including Reginald Jones, who was gunned down Wednesday; that information includes cases from the Illinois State Police, as well as cases ruled homicides by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, but not Chicago Police.
Shootings increased, with about 2,500 through Dec. 20, according to police data. That's 12 percent higher than 2014, but 15 percent lower than 2012, police said.
The rise in shootings shows how the city "continued to be challenged by the number of illegal guns," the statement said, citing "lax laws in surrounding areas." Police said the city recovered nearly 7,000 illegal guns, seven times as many as in New York and three times as many as in Los Angeles.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the dip in crime shows new policing efforts are working.
“While the data shows Chicago has seen the fewest murders and lowest crime rate in decades, the ultimate measure of our success is how our residents feel in their communities,” Emanuel said. “We will continue building on our comprehensive policing and prevention efforts, and expanding on our partnership with community leaders, faith leaders, and residents to ensure everyone in every neighborhood in Chicago enjoys the same sense of safety. Until we have achieved that important goal, our work together will not be complete.”
Data provided by the Police Department showed a 15 percent overall drop in crime versus 2013:
• Murders down 3 percent
• Criminal sexual assault down 2 percent
• Robberies down 17 percent
• Aggravated battery/assault down 6 percent
• Burglaries down 19 percent
• Thefts down 15 percent
• Motor vehicle thefts down 21 percent
The city pointed to several new and expanded initiatives that helped the decline in crime, including a "summer surge" of officers on the street; the expansion of One Summer Chicago, a youth summer jobs program; an increase in neighborhood bike patrols; a community-driven report to address youth violence; increased intervention in gang conflicts, and more.
Addressing crime statistics last week, McCarthy said the decrease in crime is encouraging but more needs to be done to combat gang culture.
"We haven't changed the gang culture," McCarthy said. "The reason why shootings are up in those neighborhoods is because there are so many guns. If these guys are throwing rocks at each other, we wouldn't have these problems."
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