University of Chicago Releases Year-End Crime Data, Homicides Down 12%

The University of Chicago’s Crime Lab has released its 2023 end-of-year analysis on Chicago crime trends.

A new report from the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab highlights the statistics on crime in Chicago in 2023. While there’s room for improvement, there is also proof of numbers trending down.

The report concludes that homicides are down by 12 percent from 2022, while shootings are down 14 percent.

“I think it is really a reason for optimism and hope. In a city as big as Chicago, twelve percent is a lot of people,” University of Chicago Crime Lab Founding Executive Director Roseanna Ander told NBC 5. She notes that the “safety gap” (the gap between safety among Black Chicago residents and White Chicago residents) has decreased by 50 percent.

Still, Black Chicago residents are 20 times more likely to be hurt in a crime than White Chicago residents.

Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI) Executive Director Vaughn Bryant points to community violence intervention (CVI) organizations across the city in doing their part to help reduce shootings.

“What we’re focused on is really expanding what we do. Crime fluctuates, but at least we know now that we’re touching a larger percentage of the folks that are vulnerable to gun violence and we want to do that same thing in about 15 other communities,” Bryant said.

Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), for example, focuses on gun violence prevention across 27 Chicago neighborhoods. Its strategy consists of four core pillars: a philosophy of nonviolence, trauma-informed care, hyperlocal collaboration, and restorative justice. The coalition is convened by MPI.

Approaches include street outreach, behavioral health, workforce development, legal aid, and organizational development.

Read the Crime Lab’s full report here.