Statistics show that if a person steals a car in Chicago in 2023, they're more likely to get away with it than in past years, according to a new Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) report. In 2023, car thefts in the city stood at 29,063 while arrests plummeted to 2.6 percent, the lowest level since the city began tracking the crime in 2001.
The IPI report cited an earlier CBS news story report that found that more than half of the stolen cars were Hyundais or Kias, due to a design flaw that makes them more vulnerable to theft.
The shrinking number of arrests, IPI says, are at least in part due to an ongoing shortage of police officers.
“Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2024 budget eliminated 833 police positions, compounding the 614 positions eliminated by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot,” IPI said. “Officers consequently made over 1,000 fewer car theft arrests last year than when sworn police ranks were at their peak in 2007.”
A Wirepoints report from last year cited multiple reasons why arrests are down, and points to the city’s leadership, not the police, as the culprit.
Some of the city's policies that might impact arrest rates include:
Police are now effectively barred from chasing criminals on foot.
Vehicle pursuits – though they require split second decision-making by police – are now subject to an 11-page guidance policy. They may be called off by supervisors even if the target is a carful of murder suspects.
Revoked days off and mandatory 12-hour shifts left many Chicago Police officers badly burnt-out.
Harsh anti-police rhetoric from one local political party and from city hall staffers plus violent resistance from crime suspects have contributed to plummeting morale, ongoing retirements and resignations, and a growing officer suicide problem.
Misallocation of many officers to non-patrol duties left Chicago Police unable to respond in a timely manner to more than 400,000 high priority 911 calls in 2021. As of autumn 2022 that problem continued, with nearly half of officers assigned to special units rather than regular district patrol beats.
A recent poll shows 64% of Chicagoans said they felt unsafe, and respondents indicated they want more police, not fewer.
“A RealClear Opinion Research survey showed 77% of Black Chicagoans want to see as many or more police in their communities. Close to 80% of all Chicagoans answered the same way,” IPI noted.
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