Despite a weekend that saw more than 50 people shot and four killed in incidents throughout Chicago, citywide shootings have dipped to a four-year low through the first half of 2019, according to the Chicago Police Department.
There have been 978 shootings through the first six months of the year, the CPD announced Monday morning, marking an 11% drop over 2018. Total shootings in Chicago had exceeded 1,000 before July 1 in each of the last three years, reaching a high of nearly 1,600 in 2016. Murders, robberies and burglaries have all seen declines thus far in 2019 of 7%, 21% and 18%, respectively.
“We continue to stand alongside our federal, state and city agency partners in embracing the ‘all hands on deck approach’ to public safety. Every officer, from myself down to the young officers working their beats throughout Chicago, is fully committed to keeping our neighborhoods safe,” CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement.
“The results thus far are certainly no cause for celebration, but rather serve as our guide for where we want to be as a city and as a Department.”
Supt. Eddie Johnson, 1st Deputy Supt. Anthony Riccio, Chief of Patrol Fred Waller, and Chief of Detectives Melissa Staples discuss Monthly Crime Figures including a four-year low in citywide shootings for the first half of 2019 #ChicagoPolice pic.twitter.com/U3zLY1IFhr
— Tom Ahern (@TomAhernCPD) July 1, 2019
The total number of shooting victims has also declined, with 1,229 known victims in 2019. There were nearly 2,000 victims by this point in 2016.
Areas including Austin, Jefferson Park and Lakeview have seen the largest reductions in shootings this year, with decreases of 40%, 50% and 44%, respectively, according to the CPD.
Police officials have credited gun recovery efforts, saying the department is on pace to seize more than the nearly 10,000 illegal firearms they took in last year.
But despite the shooting declines, Chicago just saw one of its most violent weekends of the year, with 56 people shot over the past three days, according to data tracked by the Chicago Sun-Times. That marks the second weekend in barely a month with 50-plus shootings.
Contact Matt Masterson: @ByMattMasterson | [email protected] | (773) 509-5431
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