Superintendent of Police Larry Snelling and State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke have made the difference
In the run up to Memorial Day weekend, Mayor Brandon Johnson had been celebrating drops in crime in Chicago. By the end of the Memorial Day holiday — a weekend that saw three deaths and 24 shot — the mayor was overjoyed and reveled in comparisons to previous Memorial Day weekends with significantly higher death tolls.
That murders in Chicago are down 22 percent in 2025 over the same period last year, as is overall violent crime, is a matter that Mayor Johnson and residents should be cheering. However, the mayor’s claim that drops in major crime categories are a direct result of his “investments in people” is the singular reason why the public is greeting the crime statistics with such skepticism. Looking beyond the mayor’s rhetoric, what are these so-called investments? The reopening of three of the 12 mental health centers closed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel?
Chicago has seen a notable reduction in crime following the COVID-19 pandemic. A trend that coincides with the removal of pandemic-era restrictions and a renewed concentration on high-crime neighborhoods, the focus included not just expanded social services and violence interrupters, but also an increased police presence.
There are obvious reasons why Chicago has in recent years been an outlier when it comes to crime statistics, as the city has seen violent crime climb more swiftly when there has been a national surge and crime reduced at a slower pace when crime declined nationally. Chicago’s violence numbers are now significantly better and the Windy City is finally returning to pre-COVID levels. However, cities across the nation experienced falling crime rates far ahead of Chicago and with considerably less bloodshed as the city has lagged the rest of the country.
Chicago’s surge in violent crime is clear. It was a product of the perfect storm.
- CPD strength was reduced through attrition and the budget was eventually stripped of almost 1,500 police officers while the department was placed under the direction of the most incompetent superintendent in recent city history.
- In its embrace of pre-trial release, the Cook County criminal justice system systematically emptied out the Cook County Jail which, besides Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s failure to prosecute felons at three times the release of her predecessor, returned nearly three fourths of those charged with a felony to their communities to await trial.
- Chicago endured government-imposed, COVID-related economic restrictions long after other cities had lifted theirs and city schools were forced to stay closed by threat of CTU strike an unconscionable 78 consecutive weeks. The consequences of prolonged school closures were catastrophic.
Where violence exacted its greatest toll was on Chicago’s students. With only 1 in 6 low-income parents enjoying the flexibility to work remotely, hundreds of thousands of children were out of classrooms and roaming the streets. COVID saw record level of violence against and committed by school age youth. Meanwhile, almost 20 percent of those arrested for violent crime and 408 arrests for murder or attempted murder, were carried out by individuals out on pre-trial release for a felony. Given low arrest rates for murder and attempted murder, that number may be 4-5 times greater.
Although Chicago’s violence numbers have improved drastically since the end of the COVID era, the rate at which Chicago’s reductions to crime was sluggish in comparison to other large metropolitan areas. Akin to other cities, crime rates in Chicago remain above pre-COVID levels. Chicago homicides fell under 600 in 2024, but Chicago still had more murders, school age youth murders, and mass shootings than any other American city.
Despite the fact Chicago’s murders fell 8 percent in 2024, the reduction to murders in the Windy City was inconsequential in comparison to cities such as Jacksonville, Florida, where murder was down 48 percent; New Orleans, which saw a 35 percent drop; and Philadelphia, where homicides fell 34 percent. By comparison, Chicago’s murder rate in 2024 was 4.3 times higher than New York City.
Though Chicago experienced the third lowest drop in homicides among major cities in 2024, the first quarter of 2025 brought rare welcome news on crime: Chicago, finally, began to draw near to cities nationwide, mirroring the national drop of approximately 22 percent.
While no fundamental change in the Chicago Police Department (CPD) or to city policy or programs has occurred since the pre-COVID era, it is fair to say the explanation for Chicago coming to a balance with other cities’ reductions to crime in the first quarter of 2024 is directly related to factors untethered to Mayor Johnson’s policies.
The relevant circumstances that are most likely to have contributed to Chicago’s drops in crime are, first, Mayor Johnson’s appointment of Larry Snelling as Superintendent of Police. A lifelong resident of Chicago and 30-year veteran of CPD, upon his appointment to lead CPD, Snelling expressed his desire to see more vigilant policing and his decisions regarding the shuffling of personnel in leadership positions have led to more effective policing on the street.
Second, new Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke has reversed a raft of her predecessor’s policies and, in sharp contrast to Kim Foxx, has both applied the law as written and consistently filed appropriate charges against criminal defendants. Moreover, under Burke, detainments for serious crimes have risen. For example: Monthly admissions to Cook County Jail for individuals ordered detained — chiefly for gun offenders — increased 47 percent while admissions for domestic battery saw the largest increases, 81 percent.
Where does Chicago go from this point remains the biggest question. What must be done to continue to permanently reduce violent crime? To begin, it is important for Chicago residents to reject the mayor’s claims that his largely non-existent programs are reducing crime. Furthermore, it is important for residents to keep in mind that despite reductions to crime as of May 2025, Chicago still remains the nation’s most violent big city.
What can be done to ensure progress on crime will continue and be made permanent?
First: Restore police strength.
Rebuilding CPD to its pre-COVID levels and replacing CTA’s private security with sworn officers will allow the department to fully staff every Police Beat with officers who know and are known by their communities ensuring prompt 911 response. It will also ensure CPD coverage at every CTA station and platform. Notably, the mayor’s personal police detail has nearly as many officers as the CTA has full-time CPD officers. Returning to pre-COVID overtime spending and redirecting funds from privatized CTA security can pay for the surge.
Second: Reform pre-trial and sentencing policies.
Violent and habitual offenders must be kept off the streets. Bail should be revoked for violent and habitual criminals and mandatory sentences should be imposed for those who violate orders of protection, who attack or threaten against witnesses or victims and for those who attack police officers and other First Responders. The city should use its “Home Rule” authority to adopt tougher pre-trial detention policies if the state fails to toughen the SAFE-T Act.
Third: Fund legitimate, vetted grassroots community groups and programs.
Though Mayor Johnson regularly claims that job training, drug rehabilitation programs, mental health care, and transitional housing are readily available, the mayor's words are hollow. It is important to note that Johnson has reopened only three of the 12 mental health centers closed under former Mayor Emanuel. By contrast the city and school district has spent well over $800 million on illegal, migrants.
Fourth: Schools must play a major role in public safety.
Schools are public not private buildings and school campuses should stay open into the evenings, Saturdays and through the summer, offering vocational training, activities and safe havens. Schools, in partnership with city agencies, nonprofits, and the private sector, should also offer year-round paid work-study programs as an alternative to irrelevant non-essential electives.
Fifth: Invest in educational and occupational programs for the displaced.
There are a plethora of existing alternative education, occupational training and apprenticeship programs and support organizations willing to accept young adults who have dropped out, individuals referred by the courts as an alternative to incarceration, and those who have been previously incarcerated. The Mayor’s Department of Reentry remains a tiny office with limited resources and little authority to address the needs of returning citizens.
It is critical that the Chicago Police Department be sufficiently staffed and supported by the courts to remove and keep violent and habitual criminals off the street and that there be the presence of community partners to provide appropriate interventions and support. It’s also important that priority be given to priority than addressing the educational and occupational training needs of not only school age youth but also individuals who enter the criminal justice system, while removing obstacles to economic reintegration for those previously incarcerated.
