Chicago City Wire

Paul Vallas (D) is a candidate for mayor of Chicago and a former CEO of Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

He said that despite the positive spin put on crime figures by Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D), the city still has a significant problem with gun crimes.

"Despite Lightfoot's claim of progress, [the] city had over 700 murders (734) [for the] third straight year," Vallas said in a Twitter post on Dec. 30. “Down 14% from last year but up 40% over 2019 pre-COVID. Violent crime grew 30% last year as [the] city led [the] nation in mass shootings (48) and murder of children 17 years and younger (58)."

Vallas served as CEO of CPS from 1995 to 2001, NBC Chicago reported. He also headed school districts in Philadelphia, Louisiana, and Connecticut. He revealed on May 31 that he was running for mayor in a video posted on YouTube. He highlighted several issues, including lead in drinking water and what he deemed "sky-high property taxes." Vallas said CPS was not "putting students first" and the city suffered from "rampant" violent crime.

"Chicago is burning," Vallas said in the video, which showed footage of a police car in flames during riots after George Floyd's murder in 2020. The video also showed images of Lightfoot; David Brown, superintendent of the Chicago Police Department; and Kim Foxx, state's attorney for Cook County.

Lightfoot defended her administration's policies on crime in a Dec. 30 Twitter post.

"Public safety can and should be a collaborative and holistic approach," Lightfoot said in the post. "This year, we addressed root causes of violence, alternative responses, and ways to provide lasting solutions to affected residents."

Chicago had 695 murders, 2,033 criminal sexual assaults, 8,996 robberies, 5,890 aggravated batteries, 7,622 burglaries, 20,194 thefts, 21,425 motor vehicle thefts, and 2,832 shooting incidents in 2022, according to data from the Chicago Police Department. Murders increased by 39% and motor vehicle thefts increased by 139% when those numbers were compared to data from 2019.

Twenty-eight people were shot in Chicago, seven fatally, over New Year's weekend, Chicago Sun-Times reported. A nine-year-old boy was shot and killed in his Washington Heights home at approximately 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 1. A car-to-car shootout in Washington Park left a 17-year-old boy dead and three other boys, ages 14, 15, and 17, wounded on the same day.