Chicago Police: Murders, shootings down for 9th straight month

Photo Credit: CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) — For the ninth-straight month this year, Chicago saw a reduction in gun violence in November, the police department announced early Friday.

There were 193 shooting victims last month, compared to 390 victims in November 2016, marking a decline of more than 50 percent, according to Chicago Police statistics. There were 147 fewer shooting incidents — 168 in November 2017, compared to 315 in the same month last year — representing a 47 percent decline.

The department also touted a 20 percent decline in shooting victims for the year, 3,260 so far in 2017, compared to 4,058 in the same time frame in 2016. The city has reported 2,612 shooting incidents so far in 2017, compared to 3,315 in 2016 — a 21 percent reduction.

“All told, that comes out to nearly 800 less people shot in Chicago compared to last year,” said Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

Twenty of 22 police districts have seen reductions in shootings compared to last year, and seven have seen reductions compared to 2015, police said.

In November 2017, there were 35 murders, compared to 79 in the same month in 2016, a decline of more than 54 percent, police said.

In total, the city has seen 620 homicides so far in 2017, including shootings, assaults and other types of incidents, according to Chicago Sun-Times records. By the same date last year, the city had recorded 724 homicides.

Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson discussed the city’s crime statistics during a 7 a.m. Friday press conference in Beat 1133, which has seen a decline in murders of more than 80 percent, a more than 65 percent decline in shooting incidents, and a decline of violent crime of more than 20 percent, the department said.

“In what used to be one of the most violent beats in the city, we’ve seen over a 65 percent reduction in shootings and over 80 percent reduction in murders so far this year, compared to last year,” he said.

Last year was one of the bloodiest in Chicago in two decades, with more than 4,300 shooting victims and nearly 800 homicides.

(CBS Chicago and Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this copy. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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