Chicago City Wire

Murder rates in Chicago over 2024 show that the Windy City has kept its crown as the murder capital of the nation, according to a Wirepoints study that compared Chicago’s murder rates against those of 74 other large American cities.

Separately, former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas indicated in a recent commentary that the city's Democratic leaders are content to keep it that way – there’s money to be made in what he calls the “Criminal Industrial Complex.”

The Wirepoints survey shows there were 573 murders in Chicago in 2024, the 13th year in a row that the city has had significantly more murders than anywhere else in the country. In second place was New York at 377, and Houston coming in third with 322.

Wirepoints notes that murder rates in Chicago, as in nearly all cities, have been declining over the past few years, but Chicago saw an eight percent decline in murders from 2023, where the murder rate in Philadelphia, for instance, comparing 2023 to 2024 fell off by a third with 140 fewer murders.

“Some might note that murders in Chicago’s big-city peers New York City and Houston also dropped by relatively small amounts, just 4% and 7%, respectively,” Wirepoints noted. “But it’s important to note that both cities, especially New York, already have far lower murder rates, making big percentage drops more difficult for them."

The 2024 homicide rate in Houston was just 13.9 per 100,000 and New York’s was even lower at 4.6 per 100,000, far lower than Chicago’s 21.5.

“Chicago’s poor performance vis-à-vis the rest of the country should give city leaders pause before celebrating the Windy City’s decline in homicides," the report said. "The simple fact is the city is still experiencing far too much bloodshed.”

Vallas points out that “the system driving Chicago’s crime crisis is not just broken — it is profitable. A growing network of lawyers, advocates, researchers, consultants, and consent decree monitors has transformed criminal justice reform into a lucrative business enterprise — the Criminal Industrial Complex. Their financial interests lie in treating criminals as victims and police as offenders.”

As an example he cited the Universities in Chicago, Loyola, earning millions of dollars in contracts to justify pre-trial release programs.

“The city spends more on Consent Decree consultants than on police officers patrolling the CTA,” he said. “The law firm overseeing the Consent Decree has billed the city over $19 million — 35 percent more than originally projected. The biggest payday, however, comes from the lawsuits filed against Chicago. A single law firm pocketed $42 million of $112 million in settlements in 2022 alone.”

In another example, Vallas cites the efforts of President of Cook County Board of Commissioners Toni Preckwinkle to all but abolish incarceration. He notes that Preckwinkle has continued her support for the County’s “disastrous Electronic Monitoring Program, despite clear evidence that it’s contributing to more violent crime.”

“The recent murders of Officer Enrique Martinez and the murder of Lacramioara Beldie, a victim of domestic violence, who was stabbed to death by her abuser while wearing a GPS band, are only two examples of just the latest scandals attached to Preckwinkle’s support for criminal justice reform,” he said.