Chicago Police Report 3,237 Shootings in 2020, More Than 50 Percent Increase From 2019

Remnants of crime scene tape remain on a fence in a file photo. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Chicago has seen 3,237 shootings as of Dec. 27, 2020, a 53 percent year-over-year increase, according to new figures released by the Chicago Police Department (pdf). By comparison, in the same period in 2019, there were 2,120 shootings, the statistics show.

The latest shooting in Chicago, which took place in the early morning hours of Dec. 31, involved a 33-year-old man who was standing outside in the 3600 Block of W. Grand, when an unknown assailant in a passing dark-colored vehicle fired shots, striking him in the shoulder. He was taken to the hospital, where he is good condition, police said.

In another incident on New Year’s Eve, a 27-year-old man was shot multiple times in the 5900 Block of W. Rice, before being transported to an area hospital in critical condition. He later succumbed to his wounds and was pronounced dead, police said.

According to a shooting tracker by The Chicago Tribune, 4,115 people have been shot as of Dec. 27, 2020, which is 1,412 more than last year. The key difference in the Tribune’s tracker is that it counts shooting victims rather than shooting incidents.

Murders have spiked in Chicago in 2020, with the police figures showing that homicides in the city were up by 55 percent, with 762 as of Dec. 27, 2020, compared with 491 by the same period last year.

Aggravated battery complaints in Chicago are up 6 percent in the same time frame, while motor vehicle thefts are up 11 percent.

Overall crime complaints in Chicago, however, are down 8 percent as of Dec. 27, 2020, compared to 2019, with a 27 percent drop in thefts, a 22 percent drop in criminal sexual assaults, and a 9 percent drop in burglaries.

“As everyone throughout Chicago embraces 2020 finally coming to an end, #ChicagoPolice officers throughout our city will continue patrolling and keeping our neighborhoods safe,” the Chicago Police Department said in a post on Twitter.

Violent and property crimes across the United States have fallen significantly since the early 1990s, when crime spiked across much of the nation, according to statistics published by the FBI and the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the statistical arm of the Department of Justice.

The violent crime rate fell 49 percent between 1993 and 2019, according to FBI statistics, with large drops in the rates of robbery (68 percent), murder/non-negligent manslaughter (47 percent), and aggravated assault (43 percent). The same source found that the property crime rate fell 55 percent, with significant drops in the rates of burglary (69 percent), motor vehicle theft (64 percent), and larceny/theft (49 percent).

Still, while data shows crime has fallen, Americans tend to believe crime is rising nationally, according to a November Gallup survey. It found that 78 percent of Americans believe there is more crime in the United States compared to a year ago, up 14 percentage points from last year and reminiscent of figures not seen since the early 1990s.