Many Chicagoans are breathing a sigh of relief over the significant decline in violent crimes this year.
Data shows fewer than 600 homicides took place in 2024 — the lowest number since 2019. There has been less bloodshed in some of the deadliest neighborhoods. And the chaos that some right-wing naysayers predicted would happen as Illinois became the first state to completely eliminate cash bail didn’t materialize.
The encouraging stats, bolstering the safety and security of every single resident, are grounds for optimism and low-key celebration.
However, there is much more to do than raise our glasses for turning the corner on violent crime, following the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic that ushered in a wave of violence.
Chicago can’t afford to be complacent. And every resident must remember that while many of us were lucky enough to be able to bid adieu to 2024, other Chicagoans were forced to say goodbye forever.
Some of those victims who come to mind are 11-year-old Jayden Perkins, who was stabbed to death in Edgewater in March; his mother’s ex-boyfriend is charged with his murder. Also, 9-year-old Ariana Molina, who was gunned down in a mass shooting in the Back of the Yards a month later.
The Chicago Police Department also lost Officer Luis Huesca, 32, who was shot to death in an off-duty carjacking on his way to his Gage Park home in the spring; and Officer Enrique Martinez, 26, who was felled by “rapid fire” during a traffic stop in Chatham in the fall.
No matter how encouraged the rest of us feel that murders are down by 29% since 2021, the numbers don’t mean anything to these and other families who had to bury their loved ones or watch them fight for their lives after a brutal attack. Violence stared these survivors in the face in 2024, and more Chicagoans will experience the same in 2025.
“We’re not in the clear by any means,” as Kim Smith, a director at the University of Chicago Crime Lab, put it.
Chicago will always be vulnerable to unrelenting violence, unless we all do our part. If we fail to do so, the city risks sliding backward in the years to come, wiping away whatever progress has been made. Moving forward — not regressing — is the only option.
Violence prevention outreach is the way forward
There is “no one-size-fits-all strategy” to combat crime, and each neighborhood has its unique challenges, as Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling told Sun-Times reporter David Struett.
The one approach that has been deemed effective in many corners of the city, and across the country, is violence prevention outreach.
The addition of 10 community nonprofits for every 100,000 residents, focusing on crime and community life, led to a 9% drop in the murder rate, a 6% decline in the violent crime rate and a 4% reduction in the property crime rate in cities, according to a 2017 study published in the American Sociological Review.
“As the practice of aggressive or violent policing and the expansion of the criminal justice system have met with growing protest, community-based organizations may become increasingly central to the effort to control violence within communities that are vulnerable to a rise in violent crime,” the authors of the research wrote.
Without a strong will among individuals, corporate donors and philanthropy to support successful violence prevention programs — city and state government, with their strained budgets, cannot do it all — more Chicagoans will lose their lives or end up behind bars.
Those who can afford it should step up to keep these organizations afloat, as federal money that was granted to these groups during the height of the pandemic dwindles.
Many New Year’s resolutions — eating healthier, exercising more and learning a new skill — will be broken in the days and months ahead. Some vows will be kept. The resolve to reduce violence is among our city’s essential long-term goals — and it should never be abandoned.
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