Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson
Chicago, IL — The Chicago Police Department have released a statement stating that the overall crime rate dropped last year compared to the year before. But still, a long way to go to beat or even reach New York’s record-breaking statistics.
Based on the statistics released by Chicago Police Department, the district of Englewood and Harrison had some of the most relevant decreases in gun violence among the 20 districts that have seen the reduction. With a 43 percent drop in Englewood alone and the other districts as well, a city-wide major drop in 2017 with more than 700 fewer shootings and more than 100 fewer murders was seen.
Police said the city saw a 21.55 percent drop in the number of shootings in 2017, going from 3,550 shootings in 2016 to 2785 shootings in 2017. The number of people shot dropped from 4,349 in 2016 to 3,457 in 2017, according to the statistics.
The city also saw a 15.69 percent drop in murders in 2017. A total of 650 people were murdered in 2017, down from 771 in 2016, police said.
Amidst the improvement, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said it doesn’t mean the police will slack off. “While we made significant progress this year, we certainly aren’t celebrating. There is a still a lot of work ahead of us, but we are headed in the right direction,” he said.
Last year, more sworn officers and a new technology to drive “smart policing strategy” were added. Community and police partnerships were also increased.
But certainly, Chicago is hoping for more improvements this year.
The Crime rate is much lower in New York
New York Police Department unofficial figures show that the police had only investigated 290 homicides in 2017 — the lowest since 70 years ago, 45 fewer killings than the year before.
In 2016, there were 335 killings, still a bit higher than 333 in 2014 which was then the lowest number in modern times.
The 2017 statistics show a 61% decrease from two decades ago when there were 746 killings which is already considered low at the time.
1990 had the highest recorded murders in the city with 2245, including the 87 people dead in a fire caused by an arsonist at the Happy Land Social Club in the Bronx.
The rate also decreased in the shootings. From 784 shootings last year compared to the 988 the year before, that’s a 21% drop, according to the police.
“It is safe to say right now that New York hasn’t been like this since the 1950s,” New York Police Commissioner James O’Neill said.
O’Neill has always believed that the low number of crimes is due to the department’s neighborhood policing initiatives, wherein the officers are assigned to specific sectors to reach out to the residents in the area.