Overall crime in Chicago is down from last year, but many residents still don’t feel safe.

According to data published by the Chicago Police Department this year, the city’s homicide rate dropped by 8% from 2023 to 2024, continuing on its downward trend. Other crimes have seen the same pattern, including a 10% decline in robberies, a 2% drop in sexual assaults and a 4% decline in theft.

The same downward movements are true for overall crime nationwide.

Even though statistics show improvement, a 2023 Gallup poll revealed that three-quarters of Americans believe crime has worsened across the country, including in their hometowns.

“There’s a lag between the numbers and perception,” said Teny Gross, CEO of Nonviolence Chicago.

Gross’ organization focuses on community violence intervention, mentorship, workforce placements and other violence prevention programs that he said are key to reducing crime.

“We’re doing good and positive things, but we’re still far from other countries in terms of levels of violence,” said Gross, who notes that even with great progress there are major setbacks that will take more than a decade to fix and correct. In his work he’s seen a greater amount of weaponry and bullet casings at the scene of crimes.

While the overall crime rate is dropping, gun-related arrests in Chicago are on the rise. Takenya Nixon, the attorney supervisor at the Cook County Public Defender’s Office, believes this trend reflects a deeper issue in the city’s policing system.

“Although gun-related arrests are increasing, they’re for possession only,” Nixon said. “A lot of the time the people who are being arrested for the possession of a gun have a Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) card and are being accused of carrying it in their vehicles improperly.”

She said on top of a need for police reform, she also advocates for more investment in neighborhoods lacking necessary resources.

Nixon, who has spent nearly two decades defending clients in Chicago’s courtrooms, said that another prevailing narrative in America’s perception of criminality is that minority demographics are more violent.

“The criminal legal system as it exists today is rooted in racism,” Nixon said. “If you look in the courtrooms, you see nothing but Black and Brown people who are being accused, as if Black and Brown people are the only people who exist in the city of Chicago. It forwards this idea that Black and Brown people are criminals and we need more policing.”