Crime in Chicago

Crime in Chicago has been tracked by the Chicago Police Department's Bureau of Records since the beginning of the 20th century. The city's overall crime rate, especially the violent crime rate, is higher than the US average.^[1][2][3] Gangs in Chicago have a role in the city's crime rate.^{[4][5][6][7][8]} The number of homicides in Chicago hit a 25-year high in 2021.^[9]

Chicago
Crime rates* (2021)
Violent crimes
Homicide	29.66
Rape	76.7
Robbery	294.2
Aggravated assault	239.1
Total violent crime	639.7
Property crimes
Burglary	248.6
Larceny-theft	481.5
Motor vehicle theft	394.9
Notes *Number of reported crimes per 100,000 population. Source: Chicago Crime statistics (2021)

Overview

Chicago saw a major rise in violent crime starting in the late 1960s. Murders in the city peaked in 1974, with 970 murders when the city's population was over three million, resulting in a murder rate of around 29 per 100,000, and again in 1992, with 943 murders when the city had fewer than three million people, resulting in a murder rate of 34 murders per 100,000 citizens.

After 1992, the murder count steadily decreased to 415 murders by the mid-2000s, a reduction of over 50 percent. In 2018, there were 561 murders.^[10]

Violent crime

 

The Chicago homicide rate by police district (click to enlarge)

Chicago experienced major rises in violent crime in the 1920s, in the late 1960s, and in the 2020s.^[11] a decline in overall crime in the 2000s,^[12] and then a rise in murders in 2016.^[13] Murder, rape, and robbery are common violent crimes in the city, and the occurrences of such incidents are documented by the Chicago Police Department and indexed in annual crime reports.^[14]

After adopting crime-fighting techniques in 2004 that were recommended by the Los Angeles Police Department and the New York City Police Department,^[15] Chicago recorded 448 homicides, the lowest total since 1965. This murder rate of 15.65 per 100,000 population was still above the U.S. average, an average which takes in many small towns and suburbs.^[16]

By 2010, Chicago's homicide rate had surpassed that of Los Angeles (16.02 per 100,000), and was more than twice that of New York City (7.0 per 100,000).^[17] By the end of 2015, Chicago's homicide rate rose to 18.6 per 100,000. By 2016, Chicago had recorded more homicides and shooting victims than New York City and Los Angeles combined.^[18] By the end of 2020, Chicago's homicide rate rose to 28 per 100,000.

Chicago's biggest criminal justice challenges have changed little over the last 50 years, and statistically reside with homicide, armed robbery, gang violence, and aggravated battery.

 

A map of homicides and Level 1 Trauma Centers in Chicago, 2018

Murder and shootings

 

CPD working a murder crime scene in Englewood

Year	Chicago population in million	Murder/homicide count	Murder/homicide rate per 100,000 population	Reported murder clearance rate in %
2022		695^[19]
2021	2.697 ^[20]	800^[21]	29.66	50.00%
2020	2.746 ^[22]	772 ^[23]	28.1	45.6%
2019		450-506 ^[23]	18.26	53%
2018		513-567 ^[24]	20.71 ^[25]
2017	~2.7 ^[26]	601-653 ^[23]	24.1
2016	2.725	762-784 ^[27]^[28]	27.7-28	21%
2015		472-478 ^[29]	17.5	26% ^[30]
2014	2.724	411 ^[31]
2013		414	15.22
2012		500	18.5
2011		431	15.9	34%
2010	2.695	432	16
2009		459	16.1
2008		510	18
2007		443	15.6
2006		467	16.4
2001			22.9
2000	2.896		22.1
1996		796 ^[32]
1992		939	33.1 ^[33]
1990	2.783		32.9	~70%
1981		877 ^[34]		78.4%
1980	3.005		28.7
1974		970 ^[35]	30.5 ^[36]
1970	3.366		24
1960	3.550		10.3
1950	3.620		7.9
1940	3.396		7.1
1930	3.376		14.6
1920	2.701		10.5
1910	2.185		9.2
1900	1.698		6.0
1890	1.099		7.0
1870 ^[37]	0.299		2.6

Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said a pervasive "no-snitch code" on the street remains the biggest reason more murders aren't being solved in Chicago, adding, "We're not doing well because we're not getting cooperation [...] They don't feel protected when they come forward. They feel that police will throw them under a bus, and they still have to live in the neighborhood."^[38] By 2016, Chicago's murder clearance rate had dropped to only 21%, and its detective force had dwindled from 1,151 in 2009 to 863 as of July 2016.^[39][40] Warmer months have significantly higher murder rates, and over 70% of murders take place between 7 pm and 5 am.^[41][42]

In 2011, 83% of murders involved a firearm, and 6.4% were the result of a stabbing. 10% of murders in 2011 were the result of an armed robbery and at least 60% were gang or gang narcotics altercations. Over 40% of victims and 60% of offenders were between the ages of 17 and 25. 90.1% of victims were male. 75.3% of victims and 70.5% of offenders were African American, 18.9% were Hispanic (20.3% of offenders), and whites were 5.6% of victims (3.5% of offenders).^[41]

Murder rates in Chicago vary greatly depending on the neighborhood in question. Many of the predominantly African American neighborhoods on the South Side are impoverished, lack educational resources and noted for high levels of street gang activity.^[43] The neighborhoods of Englewood on the South Side, and Austin on the West side, for example, have homicide rates that are ten times higher than other parts of the city.^[44]

Violence in these neighborhoods has had a detrimental impact on the academic performance of children in schools, as well as a higher financial burden for school districts in need of counselors, social workers, and psychiatrists to help children cope with the violence.^[45] In 2014, Chicago Public Schools adopted the "Safe Passage Route" program to place unarmed volunteers, police officers and firefighters along designated walking routes to provide security for children en route to school.^[46] From 2010 to 2014, 114 school children were murdered in Chicago.^[47]

 

Crime scene from a CPD shootout with an armed suspect in 2016

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy was terminated by Rahm Emanuel following the fall out from the shooting of Laquan McDonald.^[48]

A gunshot wound to the center mass can quickly prove fatal without immediate medical attention due to blood loss and internal injuries.^[49] In September 2015, University of Chicago Medicine and Sinai Health Systems announced a joint $40 million venture to convert Holy Cross Hospital into a Level 1 trauma center on the South side, making some of Chicago's most violent neighborhoods less than five miles from high-quality care.^[50] Non-fatal gunshot victims in Chicago had an overall rate of occurrence of 46.5 per 100,000 from 2006 to 2012, with a demographic breakdown of 1.62 per 100,000 for whites; 28.72 for Hispanics, and 112.83 for blacks.^[51] It is estimated that the medical expenses associated with gun violence costs the city of Chicago $2.5 billion a year.^[52][53]

Chicago has been criticized for comparatively light sentencing guidelines for those found illegally in possession of a firearm. Most people convicted of illegal gun possession receive the minimum sentence, one year, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis found, and serve less than half of the sentence because of time for good behavior and pre-trial confinement. The minimum sentence for felons found in possession of a firearm is two years. Those charged with simple gun possession had an average of four prior arrests. Felons charged with prior gun related crimes will be faced with stricter sentencing as of a new bill proposed in 2017. Those charged with gun possession by a felon had an average of ten prior arrests.^[54]

In September 2015, an area and neighborhood of Chicago, West Garfield Park, was named "America's mass shooting capital", citing 18 occasions in 2015 in which at least four people were shot in a single incident.^[55] In 2016, the number of murders soared to 769.^[13] August 2016 marked the most violent month Chicago had recorded in over two decades with 92 murders, included the murder of Nykea Aldridge, cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade.^[18][56] Chicago's 2016 murder and shooting surge has attracted national media attention from CNN, The New York Times, USA Today, Time magazine and PBS.^{[57][58][59][60][61]} Filmmaker Spike Lee's 2015 release, Chi-Raq, highlights Chicago's gun violence using a narrative inspired by the Greek comedy Lysistrata.^[62]

In 2017, the number of homicides fell to 653,^[13] dropping to 561 in 2018^[10] and 492 in 2019. Chicago's deadliest day since reliable digital records began in 1991, was on May 31, 2020, with 18 murders committed. That day was part of a three-day weekend that had 85 shootings, and 24 murders, the all-time highest number killed on a Chicago weekend.^[63] Reports indicate that the victims were of various ages and occupations, but mostly black. The violence was framed by the George Floyd protests, but researchers said it was unheard of and unable to be contextualized. The city's second-deadliest day had 13 murders, and occurred in 1991 shortly after digital records were introduced. There is no deadlier day recorded in the past 60 years, but records prior to 1991 may be unreliable.^[64]

Homicide statistics

1928: 498^[65] 1957: 296^[66] 1958: 305^[66] 1959: 331^[66] 1960: 372^[66] 1961: 362^[66] 1962: 385^[66] 1963: 361^[66] 1964: 390^[67] 1965: 400^[67] or 396^[68] 1966: 510^[68]^[69] 1967: 552^[69] 1968: 647^[70] 1969: 715^[71] 1970: 810^[72] 1971: 824^[73] 1972: 711^[74] 1973: 864^[75] 1974: 970^[76] 1975: 818^[77] 1976: 814^[78] 1977: 823^[79] 1978: 787^[80] 1979: 856^[81] 1980: 863^[82] 1981: 877^[83] 1982: 668^[84] 1983: 729^[85] 1984: 741^[86] 1985: 666^[87] 1986: 744^[88] 1987: 691^[89] 1988: 660^[90]^[91] 1989: 742^[92] 1990: 851^[93] 1991: 928^[94] 1992: 943^[94] 1993: 855^[94] 1994: 931^[94] 1995: 828^[94] 1996: 796^[94] 1997: 761^[94] 1998: 704^[94] 1999: 643^[94] 2000: 633^[94] 2001: 667^[94] 2002: 656^[94] 2003: 601^[94] 2004: 453^[94] 2005: 451^[94] 2006: 471^[94] 2007: 448^[94] 2008: 513^[94] 2009: 459^[94] 2010: 436^[94] 2011: 433^[94] 2012: 532^[95] 2013: 415^[96] 2014: 415^[96] or 416^[97] 2015: 468^[97] 2016: 771^[13] 2017: 653^[13] 2018: 561^[10] 2019: 518 ^[98] 2020: 769 ^[99]

Crime rates by community area

The seventy-seven Chicago community areas were defined cooperatively by the U.S. Census Bureau and the University of Chicago Department of Sociology following the 1920 Census. Although there have been substantial changes in population and infrastructure since then, the community areas remain the most widely used geographic units by Chicago planning agencies, advocacy groups, and service providers.

The table below shows population, crime totals and per capita crime rates by community area for 2020, the most recent Census year.

2020 Chicago crime rates by community area^[100]

No.	Name	Crimes^[101]	Population^[102]	Per Capita
01	Rogers Park	1,381	55,628	.0248
02	West Ridge	1,334	77,122	.0173
03	Uptown	1,312	57,182	.0229
04	Lincoln Square	910	40,494	.0225
05	North Center	558	35,114	.0159
06	Lake View	2,349	103,050	.0228
07	Lincoln Park	1,631	70,492	.0231
08	Near North Side	3,864	105,481	.0366
09	Edison Park	86	11,525	.0075
10	Norwood Park	371	38,303	.0097
11	Jefferson Park	374	26,216	.0143
12	Forest Glen	198	19,596	.0101
13	North Park	343	17,559	.0195
14	Albany Park	895	48,396	.0185
15	Portage Park	1,020	63,020	.0162
16	Irving Park	920	51,940	.0177
17	Dunning	442	43,147	.0102
18	Montclare	189	14,401	.0131
19	Belmont Cragin	1,317	78,116	.0169
20	Hermosa	462	24,062	.0192
21	Avondale	856	36,257	.0236
22	Logan Square	1,844	71,665	.0257
23	Humboldt Park	2,313	54,165	.0427
24	West Town	2,904	87,781	.0331
25	Austin	4,824	96,557	.0500
26	West Garfield Park	1,704	17,433	.0977
27	East Garfield Park	1,332	19,992	.0666
28	Near West Side	3,196	67,881	.0471
29	North Lawndale	2,477	34,794	.0712
30	South Lawndale	1,260	71,399	.0176
31	Lower West Side	868	33,751	.0257
32	Loop (The)	2,671	42,298	.0631
33	Near South Side	662	28,795	.0230
34	Armour Square	412	13,890	.0297
35	Douglas	858	20,291	.0423
36	Oakland	215	6,799	.0316
37	Fuller Park	284	2,567	.1106
38	Grand Boulevard	1,109	24,589	.0451
39	Kenwood	503	19,116	.0263
40	Washington Park	693	12,707	.0545
41	Hyde Park	743	29,456	.0252
42	Woodlawn	1,113	24,425	.0456
43	South Shore	2,965	53,971	.0549
44	Chatham	2,189	31,710	.0690
45	Avalon Park	420	9,458	.0444
46	South Chicago	1,193	27,300	.0437
47	Burnside	109	2,527	.0431
48	Calumet Heights	514	13,088	.0393
49	Roseland	2,130	38,816	.0549
50	Pullman	307	6,820	.0450
51	South Deering	623	14,105	.0442
52	East Side	296	21,724	.0136
53	West Pullman	1,456	26,104	.0558
54	Riverdale	333	7,262	.0459
55	Hegewisch	188	10,027	.0187
56	Garfield Ridge	506	35,439	.0143
57	Archer Heights	308	14,196	.0217
58	Brighton Park	603	45,053	.0134
59	McKinley Park	282	15,923	.0177
60	Bridgeport	508	33,702	.0151
61	New City	1,367	43,628	.0313
62	West Elsdon	282	18,394	.0153
63	Gage Park	615	39,540	.0156
64	Clearing	277	24,473	.0113
65	West Lawn	538	33,662	.0160
66	Chicago Lawn	1,849	55,931	.0331
67	West Englewood	2,090	29,647	.0705
68	Englewood	1,815	24,369	.0745
69	Greater Grand Crossing	2,233	31,471	.0710
70	Ashburn	700	41,098	.0170
71	Auburn Gresham	2,172	44,878	.0484
72	Beverly	313	20,027	.0156
73	Washington Heights	984	25,065	.0393
74	Mount Greenwood	123	18,628	.0066
75	Morgan Park	641	21,186	.0303
76	O'Hare	399	13,418	.0297
77	Edgewater	1,068	56,296	.0190

Homicide rates by community area

2022 Chicago homicide rates by community area ^[100]

No.	Name	Homicides ^[103]	Population ^[102]	Rate
01	Rogers Park	7	55,628	12.58
02	West Ridge	6	77,122	7.78
03	Uptown	10	57,182	17.49
04	Lincoln Square	1	40,494	2.47
05	North Center	0	35,114	0
06	Lake View	1	103,050	0.97
07	Lincoln Park	1	70,492	1.42
08	Near North Side	14	105,481	13.27
09	Edison Park	1	11,525	8.68
10	Norwood Park	0	38,303	0
11	Jefferson Park	0	26,216	0
12	Forest Glen	0	19,596	0
13	North Park	2	17,559	11.39
14	Albany Park	6	48,396	12.4
15	Portage Park	3	63,020	4.76
16	Irving Park	3	51,940	5.78
17	Dunning	1	43,147	2.32
18	Montclare	2	14,401	13.89
19	Belmont Cragin	8	78,116	10.24
20	Hermosa	1	24,062	4.16
21	Avondale	2	36,257	5.52
22	Logan Square	8	71,665	11.16
23	Humboldt Park	21	54,165	38.77
24	West Town	10	87,781	11.39
25	Austin	45	96,557	46.6
26	West Garfield Park	28	17,433	160.61
27	East Garfield Park	18	19,992	90.04
28	Near West Side	18	67,881	26.52
29	North Lawndale	27	34,794	77.6
30	South Lawndale	20	71,399	28.01
31	Lower West Side	9	33,751	26.67
32	Loop (The)	9	42,298	21.28
33	Near South Side	7	28,795	24.31
34	Armour Square	2	13,890	14.4
35	Douglas	8	20,291	39.43
36	Oakland	0	6,799	0
37	Fuller Park	5	2,567	194.78
38	Grand Boulevard	14	24,589	56.94
39	Kenwood	7	19,116	36.62
40	Washington Park	4	12,707	31.48
41	Hyde Park	1	29,456	3.39
42	Woodlawn	12	24,425	49.13
43	South Shore	41	53,971	75.97
44	Chatham	26	31,710	81.99
45	Avalon Park	3	9,458	31.72
46	South Chicago	18	27,300	65.93
47	Burnside	1	2,527	39.57
48	Calumet Heights	2	13,088	15.28
49	Roseland	27	38,816	69.56
50	Pullman	4	6,820	58.65
51	South Deering	7	14,105	49.63
52	East Side	3	21,724	13.81
53	West Pullman	22	26,104	84.28
54	Riverdale	7	7,262	96.39
55	Hegewisch	0	10,027	0
56	Garfield Ridge	0	35,439	0
57	Archer Heights	1	14,196	7.04
58	Brighton Park	10	45,053	22.2
59	McKinley Park	5	15,923	31.4
60	Bridgeport	2	33,702	5.93
61	New City	23	43,628	52.72
62	West Elsdon	0	18,394	0
63	Gage Park	1	39,540	2.53
64	Clearing	0	24,473	0
65	West Lawn	3	33,662	8.91
66	Chicago Lawn	18	55,931	32.18
67	West Englewood	30	29,647	101.19
68	Englewood	17	24,369	69.76
69	Greater Grand Crossing	21	31,471	66.73
70	Ashburn	4	41,098	9.73
71	Auburn Gresham	35	44,878	77.99
72	Beverly	2	20,027	9.99
73	Washington Heights	10	25,065	39.9
74	Mount Greenwood	0	18,628	0
75	Morgan Park	8	21,186	37.76
76	O'Hare	0	13,418	0
77	Edgewater	2	56,296	3.55

Street gangs

Main article: Gangs in Chicago

 

Gangster Disciples tag in Chicago

Chicago has an estimated population of over 100,000 active gang members from nearly 60 factions.^[104][105] Gang warfare and retaliation is common in Chicago. Gangs were responsible for 61% of the homicides in Chicago in 2011.^[41]

Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy blames Chicago's gang culture for its high rates of homicide and other violent crime, stating "It's very frustrating to know that it's like 7% of the population causes 80% of the violent crime...The gangs here are traditional gangs that are generational, if you will. The grandfather was a gang member, the father's a gang member, and the kid right now is going to be a gang member."^[106]

Mayor Rahm Emanuel disbanded the Chicago Police Department's anti-gang unit in 2012 in order to focus on beat patrols, which he said would have a more long-term solution to violence than anti-gang units.^[107][108]

As many as 70 active and inactive Chicago street gangs with 753 factions have been identified.^[109][110] Some of the gangs that contribute most of the crime on the streets of Chicago:

• Gangster Disciples
• Vice Lords
• Black P. Stones
• Latin Kings
• Black Disciples
• Maniac Latin Disciples
• Spanish Cobras
• Almighty Saints
• Spanish Gangster Disciples
• Four Corner Hustlers

Detailed analysis of the homicides timeline by month show that homicides (of all races) went up right after Martin Luther King was killed in 1968 (still for reasons unknown). However, Hispanic-on-Hispanic homicides, did not notably start until the summer of 1971, due to the Latin Kings gang election meetings.^[111] However, this claim can't be immediately proven, as homicides by race are not made public for those time periods.

Political corruption

Chicago has a long history of public corruption that regularly draws the attention of federal law enforcement and federal prosecutors.^[112] Chicago's political landscape has been firmly under the control of the Democratic Party for over 85 years and has been widely described as a political machine.^{[113][114][115][116]} In the 1980s, the FBI's Operation Greylord uncovered massive and systemic corruption in Chicago's judicial system. Greylord was the longest and most successful undercover operation in the history of the FBI, and resulted in 92 federal indictments, including 17 judges, 48 lawyers, eight policemen, ten deputy sheriffs, eight court officials, and one state legislator. Nearly all were convicted on a variety of charges including bribery, kickbacks, fraud, vote buying, racketeering, and drug trafficking.^{[117][118][119]}

The late 1980s and 1990s saw further efforts by the FBI to prosecute Chicago's public crime syndicates. Operation Incubator obtained about a dozen convictions or guilty pleas, including those from five members of the City Council and an aide to former Mayor Harold Washington.^[120] Later Operation Gambat brought a wide range of charges against a Chicago judge, a state senator, an alderman, and two others relating to corruption in the Cook County Circuit Court, the Illinois Senate, and the Chicago City Council. Four were convicted and a fifth died during trial.^[121] The most extensive operation by the FBI of the 1990s, Operation Silver Shovel, sought to uncover corruption within Chicago labor unions, organized crime, and other city government officials. Operation Silver Shovel resulted in the conviction of six Chicago aldermen and a dozen other local officials on a wide range of corruption related charges.^{[121][122][123]}

From 2012 to 2019, 33 Chicago aldermen were convicted on corruption charges, roughly one third of those elected in the time period. A report from the Office of the Legislative Inspector General noted that over half of Chicago's elected alderman took illegal campaign contributions in 2013.^[124] In 2015, mayor appointed Barbara Byrd-Bennett, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, was convicted in a $23 million kickback scheme and was sentenced to seven and-a-half years in prison.^[125] In addition to the Bennett conviction, a joint investigative report issued by the Office of the Inspector General and federal authorities documented widespread corruption within Chicago Public Schools in 2015. The audit noted the criminal shakedown of a CPS vendor, a records forgery scheme by a principal, numerous instances of employees abusing CPS's tax-exempt status to purchase personal items at big-box retailers, illegally using taxpayer-funded resources to campaign for political causes and stealing from taxpayer-funded accounts intended for purchasing student materials.^[126]

A 2015 report released by the University of Illinois at Chicago's political science department declared Chicago the "corruption capital of America", citing that the Chicago-based Federal Judicial District for Northern Illinois reported 45 public corruption convictions for 2013 and a total of 1,642 convictions for the 38 years since 1976 when the U.S. Department of Justice began compiling the statistics. UIC Professor and former Chicago Alderman Dick Simpson noted in the report that "To end corruption, society needs to do more than convict the guys that get caught. A comprehensive anti-corruption strategy must be forged and carried out over at least a decade. A new political culture in which public corruption is no longer tolerated must be created".^[127][128]

 

The FBI's Chicago division.

Examples of other high-profile Chicago political figures convicted on corruption related charges include Rod Blagojevich, Jesse Jackson Jr., Isaac Carothers, Arenda Troutman, Edward Vrdolyak, Otto Kerner, Jr., Constance Howard, Fred Roti and Dan Rostenkowski.

In October 2015, the FBI announced that Michael Anderson would take over for a retiring Robert Holley as Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Bureau. Anderson, a corruption veteran who wrote the FBI Public Corruption Field Guide, called Chicago "target rich" for cases in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. Anderson commands a team of 850 agents in Chicago along with analysts and support staff.^[129][130]

Most corruption cases in Chicago are prosecuted by the US Attorney's office, as legal jurisdiction makes most offenses punishable as a federal crime.^[131] The current US Attorney for the Northern district of Illinois is Zachary T. Fardon.^[132] In a press conference in January 2016, in the wake of the conviction of former Chicago City Hall official, John Bills, for taking $2 million in bribes, Fardon commented "Public corruption [in Chicago] is a disease and where public officials violate the public trust, we have to hold them accountable. And I do believe that by doing so, it sends a deterrent message."^[133][134]

Policing

Main article: Chicago Police Department

During the Progressive Era, the first juvenile system was created by Chicago officials and, to make the court system more organized and specific, specialized courts, like those for domestic disputes, were created.^[135] Not only did the court and corrections systems change, there was also a change in policing. Divisions and squads became specialized on particular types of crime. The courts began to incorporate specialists, like scientists and psychologists, to make the trial and evidence more reliable and trustworthy.^[135]

 

Chicago Police insignia

Chicago was among the first U.S. cities to create an integrated emergency-response center to coordinate the response to natural disasters, gang violence, and terrorist attacks. Built in 1995, the center is integrated with more than 2,000 cameras, communications with all levels of city government, and a direct link to the National Counterterrorism Center. Police credited surveillance cameras with contributing to decreased crime in 2004.^[136]

In 2003, the Chicago Police Department began installing POD's (Police Observation Devices) in high-crime areas. The cameras are able to rotate 360 degrees and zoom to a fine level of detail. The devices are also bulletproof, operable in any weather condition, record continuously and switch into night-vision mode after dark. POD's are used to monitor street crime and direct police deployment. Data from the cameras is wirelessly transmitted to the Chicago Crime Prevention and Information Center (CPIC) which can individually control any camera.^[137][138] Over 20,000 cameras currently operate in Chicago. In addition to PODs, colloquially referred to as "blue-light cameras", the city has added general surveillance cameras to CTA stations, buses, Chicago Housing Authority buildings, public buildings and schools.^[139] This has prompted harsh criticism from privacy advocates and the ACLU who called the program "A pervasive and poorly regulated threat to our privacy".^[140]

 

Chicago POD Camera in operation

The Chicago Police Department has also been criticized for its liberal use of the controversial "stop-and-frisk" policy.^[141] For decades, the policy gave officers much more autonomy to conduct stops and pat-downs if there exists a reasonable suspicion that a suspect might be armed and dangerous.^[142][143] The ACLU has claimed that the policy unfairly targets African Americans, who accounted for nearly 75% of those stopped in 2014, even though they account for a third of the city's population.^[144] The Chicago Police Department confiscated almost 7,000 firearms in 2014, about 583 per month.^[145] The stop-and-frisk policy was largely abandoned by CPD in early 2016.^[143]

Because the Chicago Police Department tallies data differently than police in other cities, the FBI often does not accept its crime statistics^{[citation needed]}. Chicago police officers record all criminal sexual assaults, as opposed to only rape^{[citation needed]}. They count aggravated battery together with the standard category of aggravated assault^{[citation needed]}. As a result, Chicago is often omitted from studies such as Morgan Quitno's annual "Safest/Most Dangerous City" survey, which relies on FBI-collected data.^[146]

The Chicago Police Department's CLEAR (Citizen Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting) system is a web application enabling the public to search the Chicago Police Department's database of reported crime. Individuals are able to see maps, graphs, and tables of reported crime. The database contains 90 days of information, which can be accessed in blocks of up to 14 days. Data is refreshed daily. However, the most recent information is always six days old.

The police use "guardian-like" intervention, a method relying on information from an individual's criminal history in order to predict the likelihood of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence, to "build public trust and legitimacy."^[147]

CPD tallied 22 police-involved shootings in 2015, eight of which resulted in fatalities.^[148] Fatality cases involving an African American perpetrator often gave rise to a media sensation, both in Chicago and elsewhere.^[149] In December 2015, the US Department of Justice opened a civil rights investigation of the Chicago Police Department in the aftermath of the Laquan McDonald case. The "pattern and practice" probe evaluated the use of force, deadly force, accountability and tracking procedures of the department. A 190-page report issued in April 2016 deemed the Chicago Police Department a racist organization. Chairman of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, Dean Angelo called the report "totally biased" and "utterly ridiculous".^{[150][151][152][153]}

2016's surge in murders and shootings, coupled with a decline in gun seizures, led former Police Superintendent John Escalante to express concerns in March 2016 that officers might be hesitant to engage in proactive policing due to fear of retribution. Officers anonymously reported to the Chicago Sun-Times that they have been afraid to make investigatory stops because the Justice Department and American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois have been scrutinizing police practices. Data of the supposed pullback was reflected with an 80 percent decrease in the number of street stops that officers made since the beginning of 2016. Dean Angelo has claimed that part of the problem is politicians and groups like the ACLU who don't know much about policing, and yet are "dictating what police officers do".^{[154][155][156]}

Professors Paul Cassell and Richard Fowles at the University of Utah later analyzed the 2016 Chicago homicide "spike" and concluded that the most likely cause was a consent decree entered into by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) with the Chicago Police Department restricting stop and frisks. Cassell and Fowles concluded that 239 additional victims were killed and 1129 additional shootings occurred in 2016 because of the reduction in stop and frisks.^[157] This study, however, failed to identify such spikes in the large number of other cities subject to similar consent decrees,^[158] leading to questions about whether they had really identified a causal relationship.

Crime reporting accuracy

In 2014 and 2015, Chicago Magazine and The Economist conducted investigations into the CompStat data reporting of crime statistics for the city and reported irregularities. In addition, an audit conducted by Chicago's Office of the Inspector General found significant problems in the accuracy of CPD's crime data.

According to Chicago Magazine, superiors often pressure officers to under-report crime. An unnamed police source quoted in the magazine says there are "a million tiny ways to do it", such as misclassifying and downgrading offenses, counting multiple incidents as single events, and discouraging residents from reporting crime. The police department has responded that their statistics are generally accurate and that the discrepancies can be explained by differences in the Uniform Crime Reporting used by the FBI and CompStat.^{[159][160][161][162][163]}

Gun laws and dealers

The city of Chicago has one of the highest murder rates among large cities. Despite generally strict gun laws compared to neighboring areas, there are still many illegal guns in Chicago. It is estimated that 80% of homicides in Chicago are committed with firearms.^[164] Chicago recorded 780 murders in 2020. This figure represents an increase of more than 55% over 2019.^[165] On the Fourth of July weekend 2021, at least 100 people, mostly African-American, were shot, 18 of them fatally. Murders for 2021, are trending higher than 2020.^[166]

Chicago has a ban on guns designated as "assault weapons" and laser sights.^[167][168] Additionally, under Illinois law, to own a firearm one must possess a firearms owners’ identification (FOID) card, undergo a background check, and wait 72 hours before taking possession of a purchased firearm.^[169][170] Lost or stolen guns must also be reported to law enforcement within 72 hours.^[171] There are currently no gun stores in the Chicago city limits and Federal firearms laws already make it illegal to buy firearms out of state without an FFL transfer and background check from that state. Access to guns is likely occurring via neighboring Indiana, a state with lax gun laws, and the many other areas through already illegal straw purchases.^[172]

About 7000 guns are recovered by Chicago police each year at crime scenes. An estimated 45% of these guns are bought by straw buyers in states with lax gun laws, namely Indiana.^[173] In April 2021, the City of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Westforth Sports of Gary, Indiana, alleging that it consistently ranks as one of the highest suppliers of guns used in crimes. The city claims that during the period from 2009 to 2016, 850 recovered guns were originally purchased from Westforth Sports.^[174]

See also

• Gangs in Chicago
• Chuck's Gun Shop & Range
• Kids Off The Block
• Race and crime in the United States

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Further reading

• Lesy, Michael (2007). Murder City: The Bloody History of Chicago in the Twenties. W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0393060300.
• Hagedorn, John and Brigid Rauch. "Housing, Gangs, and Homicide What We Can Learn from Chicago." Urban Affairs Review. March 2007 vol. 42 no. 4 435–456. doi: 10.1177/1078087406294435.

External links

• Chicago Police Department
• Chicago homicide map generator
• Online Crime Map of Chicago- SpotCrime.com
• Table of Chicago gang raids by Chicago police and federal police
• Crimes in Chicago and Illinois