In 2015, Chicago saw the fourth straight year of reductions in overall crime and
the fewest violent crime incidents since the 1960’s. Since 2011, overall crime in Chicago has
fallen by more than 37 percent – across the FBI’s combined major crime indices (homicide, rape,
robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, felony theft, motor vehicle theft and arson).
While overall crime continued to fall in 2015, gun violence in Chicago rose – as was the case in
many major urban centers across the country last year. That did not apply, however, to juvenile
victims – which is significant. There was a 33 percent decline in juvenile murder victims in 2015,
and a 14 percent decline in juvenile shooting victims.
“2015 was a year of hard work and real progress but also real challenges,” said Interim Police
Superintendent John Escalante. “I’m proud that we continue to see an overall reduction crime in
Chicago; however we clearly have a lot of work ahead of us. In addition to building upon our public
safety accomplishments, our focus for 2016 year will be to restore the trust of the people of
Chicago by being more transparent and continuing to work with our external partners to take a
critical look at our department to develop best-in-class policies and practices.”