Chicago has seen a 23 percent reduction in murders and a 19 percent reduction in shootings so far in 2018, according to new data released by police early Wednesday, which showed that the city saw 332 people get shot in the month of July.
Seven months into the year, the city has seen 1370 shooting incidents, with 1677 victims and 311 murders, according to the Chicago Police Department.
That's 97 fewer murders and 325 fewer shootings than in 2017, CPD said, adding that crimes like robberies, burglaries, carjackings and more have also declined.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said Wednesday that July's statistics demonstrated "progress" but that work still remained.
"This is the 17th consecutive month since we launched the strategic decision support centers in roughly half the districts in the city, so that's showing progress, of course," Johnson said.
"We're not celebrating by any means but we are heading in the right direction, and what I think is working really well is the technology that we put into these districts," he continued, adding, "The second thing is I think the hiring plan, you know, adding additional officers."
Chicago police said Wednesday that 103 new recruits joined the academy in July and 97 new officers joined 10 districts across the city, bringing the total to 1,800 new recruits since the hiring plan was launched last year.
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"And then the third thing and maybe most important is the relationship we built in some of the more active districts, but that's still a work in progress," Johnson continued.
"What we have to do is just keep working on it and you know reduce the number of overall shootings we have in the city and then I think residents will feel a lot safer," he said.
