More weapons seized, fewer aggravated batteries and crimes reported overall
Chicago Police today released preliminary crime statistics for the last full month of the summer, showing the highest drop since January in aggravated batteries and total crimes compared to 2008. The 9.6 percent decrease in overall crime and 7.5 percent decline in aggravated batteries reflected positive results from the antiviolence initiatives announced at the start of summer.
Citywide there was a 4.5 percent reduction in violent index offenses and 11 percent decrease in property crimes. Homicides were down 9.2 percent with 31 fewer murders reported this year. Aggravated batteries fell sharply since the start of the season, dropping 23 percent from the beginning of July until the end of August. Fifty fewer shootings were reported at the end of August, whereas the July 1 total was 60 above the 2008 total.
Deputy Superintendent Daniel Dugan highlighted several initiatives supporting this summer’s progress, including reassignment of 150 administrative officers to the Districts and additional deployment of other administrative personnel to field duties through Back to the Streets. The Project Safe City program provided overtime funding which placed an even greater number of officers on the street.
Significant strides were shown in the number of weapons recovered through the end of last month. Police seized more than 5,500 guns, exceeding last year’s count by more than 550 firearms. Assault weapons accounted for 242 of the total gun recoveries this year.
Specialized units such as the Gang Enforcement Unit, Mobile Strike Force, and Targeted Response Units were responsible for recovering more than 1,000 guns almost entirely in violent hotspots in Areas 1 and 2. Additionally, August’s Don’t Kill a Dream, Save a Life gun turn-in recovered more than 1,900 guns, surpassing New York and Los Angeles collections.
“We strive to remove guns from the streets because we see the devastation that occurs when these weapons end up in the wrong hands,” said Deputy Superintendent Dugan.
The only violent index offense to increase was robbery, up .2 percent through the end of August compared to last year. Detectives countered the rise in reported offenses with a number of robbery-related arrests and charges that removed violent criminals from the streets.
In mid-August, Area Two Detectives closed a robbery pattern occurring near Metra stations on the South Side, while Area Three Detectives on the North Side charged multiple offenders for various robbery offenses, and continue to investigate a recent spike in activity.
Deputy Superintendent Dugan also discussed the Department’s plans to safeguard young people returning to school next Tuesday. Although the majority of criminal incidents involving youth have been shown to occur off of school premises, Dugan emphasized sharing resources and information with Chicago Public Schools to ensure the safety of students. Intelligence gathering will focus on identifying problematic high schools, especially ones with gang conflicts, and assigning police to conduct daily patrols and school checks in these areas.
Officers assigned to schools will be trained in school violence threat assessment to allow for quicker police response and rapid de-escalation techniques. Additionally, Operation Safe Passage will deploy District personnel and specialized units at school dismissal times to put the maximum amount of resources on the street at a crucial time of the day.
According to preliminary statistics through the end of August 2009:
- Violent Index Crime is down 4.5 percent
- Homicide – down 9.2 percent
- Criminal Sexual Assault – down 5.9 percent
- Robbery – up .2 percent
- Aggravated Assault – down 9.5 percent
- Aggravated Battery – down 7.5 percent
- Property Index Crime is down 11 percent
- Burglary – up .7 percent
- Theft – down 11.2 percent
- Motor Vehicle Theft – down 25.6 percent
- Arson – down 2.1 percent
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