CPD releases crime stats for first quarter, murders down 30 percent

Murders and shootings in Chicago during the first quarter of 2019 were down from the same period in 2018, according to data collected by Chicago police.

The 76 murders reported between Jan. 1 to March 31 was a 30 percent decline from the same period last year. And over the last three years, the city has seen a 52-percent drop in murders, Chicago police said in a news release on Monday.

The number of shootings came in at 348, a 17-percent decrease from the same period last year.

The Sun-Times has counted 80 homicides this year within city limits.

“The Chicago Police Department continued to make progress towards reducing crime throughout the city in March,,” Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said. “We still have more work to do, but I believe the additional officers on the street and our new technology is making Chicago a safer place.”

Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 illegal guns were seized by officers in 2019, police said. That’s a minor increase from the same period last year.

Other crimes — robberies, burglaries and vehicle thefts — were at a 20-year low, police said.

Throughout March, 297 additional CPD officers were deployed onto the streets, police said.

Read more crime, and track the city’s homicides.