Murders, shootings and other violent crimes in Chicago through the first half of 2019 have decreased compared to the same period last year, according to data collected by Chicago police.
The 236 murders reported from Jan. 1 to June 30 was a 7% decline from the same period last year, police said. This marks the lowest numbers of murders in Chicago since 2016.
The Sun-Times has counted 241 homicides this year within city limits.
Shootings in the first six months of the year came in at 978, an 11% decline from the same period last year, police said. They are at their lowest levels since 2015.
June saw 242 shootings, a decrease from the 257 reported in the same month in 2018, police said. Murders in the same period decreased from 57 to 47.
“Every officer, from myself down to the young officers working their beats throughout Chicago, is fully committed to keeping our neighborhoods safe,” Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said.
Meanwhile, more than 5,200 illegal guns were seized by officers in 2019, putting CPD on pace to surpass the nearly 10,00 illegal guns seized over the same period last year, police said.
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Other crimes — robberies, burglaries and vehicle thefts — were at a 20-year low, police said.
“The results so far are certainly no cause for celebration, but rather serve as our guide for where we want to be as a city and as a department,” Johnson said.
