Results tagged “crimerate”

It was a violent July, but for the first six months of 2009, crime was down overall across the city compared with the same time period in 2008. The Sun-Times has a break-down of the stats and shows a nine percent decrease in overall crime, including a three percent decrease in violent crime.

A year ago, the City was reeling from two jarring violent acts: the death of Chicago Police officer Richard Francis, killed in the line of duty, and a shoot-out in the Loop following the Taste of Chicago. And while there have certainly been outbreaks of violence this year, City officials are touting new numbers that show crime is down in 2009. The first six months of the year have seen a 10.4 percent decrease in crime and a 12.7 decrease in homicides (199 versus 229 last year). Embattled police superintendent Jody Weis said, "While our ultimate goal is to see the number zero for murders in Chicago, the 12.7 percent drop in homicides through June is a positive sign that our efforts to curb violence are having an impact."

Well, this wasn't the news we wanted to see going into Christmas. For the first time in five years, Chicago has eclipsed 500 murders, according to Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond. No other details are known other than that the homicide occurred last night. While these numbers are still a far cry from the bloody 90's (when homicides topped 900 a year from 1991 through 1994), it's still an uptick from last year's 443 murders and doesn't do beleaguered Chicago Police honcho Jody Weis any good.