Murders Decrease, Shootings Rise In First Half Of 2014
By Chuck Sudo in News on Jul 1, 2014 2:00PM
The Chicago Police Department announced the city’s homicide rate for the first six months of 2014 were down compared to the same time frame last year, which is good news. The bad news is the number of shooting incidents and shooting victims increased.
Through June 29 the city recorded 186 murders, nine fewer than last year at this time. Shooting incidents, however, rose from 833 last year to 880 in 2014, and there were 1,103 shooting victims so far versus 1,018. Those numbers, however, are significantly lower than in 2012 when the city’s homicide rate gained national headlines. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy noted homicides are still at a 51-year low thanks to strategies such as the saturation techniques in high-crime areas that have police eating enormous amounts of overtime hours.
McCarthy said plans are in place to combat gun violence now that the city is firmly entrenched in warm weather.
”We will keep building on our strategy, putting more officers on the street in summer months, proactively intervening in gang conflicts, partnering with community leaders, and with the Mayor’s leadership the City will continue investing in prevention programs for at-risk youth. Yet, even with the best police and the best policing strategy in the world, without better state and federal laws to keep guns off the streets and out of the hands of dangerous criminals we’ll continue to face an uphill battle.”
Chicagoist emailed the Police Department for numbers related to other major crimes and we will update this post if and when we receive them.
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