Chicago City Wire

Chicago was tops in the nation for shootings in 2023, while arrests were at a record low, a new study by the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) shows. And the neighborhood with the most shootings was Mayor Brandon Johnson’s birthplace, Austin, with one shooting for every 414 residents.

Citywide, about one in every 5,000 Chicagoans was killed in a shooting in 2023, a drop from 2021 when the rate was one in 3,600.

“But while shootings dropped overall, the city arrest rate for shootings also fell to its lowest level in 23 years,” the report said. “Chicago police made an arrest in just shy of 4% of shooting incidents reported last year, the fewest since the city started recording the data in 2001. Officers were also only able to catch 1-in-4 homicide offenders, another record-low for the city.”

Despite the rampant shootings, Johnson recently announced that the city will be phasing out its contract with a proven lifesaving gunshot detection technology, ShotSpotter. In addition, at the mayor’s direction, the Chicago Board of Education on Thursday approved a resolution to remove all police officers from the city’s public schools starting with the next school year. What’s more, the mayor’s policies are further reducing the police complement in the city. This, when the Chicago Police Department has more than 1,700 fewer officers than it did just four years ago.

“While Mayor Johnson has shifted his public safety plan towards addressing crime prevention with a long-term, holistic approach, the ongoing police officer shortage Johnson has aggravated has hampered the city’s current chances of preventing more shootings,” the IPI report said.

“Johnson’s 2024 budget eliminated 833 police positions,” the report added, “compounding the 614 positions eliminated by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Officers made 115 fewer shooting arrests last year than when sworn police ranks were at their peak in 2007.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.