Vallas: 10 things you should know about Chicago crime today

Independence Day weekend was bloody in Chicago. City leaders are doing little other than pointing fingers. Here are 10 things Chicagoans should know about the current crime problem.

From July 4 to July 7, over 100 Chicagoans were shot and at least 19 were killed. Murdered Chicagoans accounted for one-third of everyone killed that weekend nationwide.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson finally condemned those committing the violence and claimed, “There will be consequences.”

But it was all rhetoric with no substance. Johnson quickly returned to his favorite explanation for all his challenges and failures: historic disinvestment. He went as far as to blame fellow Democratic predecessors.

Johnson refuses to take responsibility. Instead of blaming history, Johnson should be restoring expectations that there will be consequences for breaking the law.

Chicago needs a real crime strategy. It must restore police strength. It must hold criminals responsible. It must offer safety that puts the city’s low-income families at ease.

Johnson could work with the City Council to pass a Public Safety Act that gives police and city residents tools to contain and help roll back crime. The act can help keep dangerous and habitual offenders off the street while ensuring there are serious financial consequences for less-serious crimes.

Here’s the reality of crime in Chicago today:

1.) Chicago is the crime capital of the nation
Chicago is not only the nation’s murder capital but leads the nation in mass shootings. Last year, there were 83 mass shootings, which Chicago Police define as three or more.

2.) The city tops the nation in youth crime
Chicago sees more school-age children 17 years and younger murdered than any city in the nation – with a total of 76 killed in 2023. The University of Chicago Crime Lab reported a 50% increase in school-age children murdered since 2019. It also found a record increase in violent crime committed by school-age youth.

3.) Black on Black crime has reached crisis levels
The levels of crime committed by Black individuals against Black victims is a calamity. Nine out of 10 homicides in Chicago occur on the South Side and 77% of victims in Chicago are Black. Black women have been particularly victimized as they constitute 30% of all violent crime victims in the city. If you are a Black girl 18 years or younger, you are 14 times more likely to be a victim of violent crime than a white girl.

4.) Not enough is done to help domestic violence victims
There were 13,969 female victims of violent crime such as assault, battery, criminal sexual assault, robbery and homicide in 2023. That’s a 26% increase over the average of the past three years. Most women murdered by domestic partners had filed orders of protection that had not even been served.

5.) Police lack the resources and support needed to make arrests
The city is seeing historic lows in arrests for violent crime. During the past three years, barely 5% of crimes have resulted in an arrest. When there is a murder, there is a 1 in 20 chance an arrest will ever be made.

This all comes as there is a police officer shortage – with almost 1,700 fewer officers than when former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot took office – and restraints on proactive-responsive policing. Officers have been shot at 123 times during the past two years. With streets awash in illegal guns and criminals more brazen about shooting police, police are working in unprecedented environments.

6.) Half the high-priority 911 calls have no officer available to respond
Police are so understaffed and ineffectively deployed that over half the high-priority 911 calls do not have an available car to respond. These crimes include shootings, burglaries, robberies, carjackings and more. That number is up dramatically from the 19% of calls that did not have police cars available in 2019.

7.) Pre-trial release floods communities with dangerous criminals
Even before the SAFE-T Act took effect in 2023, pre-trial release wasn’t working in Illinois. A University of Utah College of Law study of Cook County’s pre-trial release program pointed to a 45% increase in overall crimes and a 33% increase in violent crime by individuals out on pre-trial bail. Reforms are needed for Illinois’ SAFE-T Act to provide clearer guidelines for habitual and repeat offenders.

8.) There has been an epidemic of hate crimes
Since 2020, documented hate crimes in Chicago have increased by 275%. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 74% increase in antisemitic incidents in 2023, the worst numbers since they started tracking them in 1979. Between 2015 and 2023, only 23%, or 194, of all hate crime investigations have been solved or closed.

9.) Schools are being stripped of protection against active shooters
School shootings nationally tripled during the past three years compared to the previous three years. Over 100 were shot near Chicago schools during the past five years. Nevertheless, the Chicago Public Schools school board – appointed by the mayor – voted to remove all remaining Chicago Police officers from all the city’s high schools.

10.) Sexual abuse and misconduct cases continue at Chicago Public Schools
There were 470 reported complaints of sexual abuse and misconduct in the Chicago Public Schools in 2022. Yet, no firings. No one-strike-you’re-out policy. No list of CPS offenders. No rigorous screening process. No mandatory “safe environment” training for employees and vendors. The Chicago Archdiocese implemented all those measures in response to their scandal.

Without serious action, crime will continue to destroy Chicago. Public safety is Job No. 1 for any city’s leaders, because without it all other efforts and initiatives fall away.