Citywide Crime Drops, But Murder Rates Spike In Englewood

By aaroncynic in News on Dec 29, 2011 7:00PM

The murder and crime rates in Chicago dropped 2 percent and 8 percent, respectively, but those numbers don’t seem to matter in Englewood. The Sun Times reports that though city murder rates are at their lowest in decades citywide, murders in Englewood rose 40 percent this year. As of Tuesday, 56 people were killed this year in Englewood alone. Plus, Tuesday night a gun fight at Church's Chicken in Englewood left two CPS students dead and five people wounded.

Police Superintendent Gary McCarthy plans to boost efforts to reduce crime in the beleaguered South Side neighborhood by shifting more officers to the patrol division and having police Commanders work with community groups and church leaders to shut down drug trades. McCarthy moved nearly 1,000 officers from desk jobs and crime fighting units to the patrol division over the past seven months.

“When I stop hearing about kids getting killed, when I stop hearing about kids getting shot, then maybe I’ll be satisfied,” McCarthy said.