Chicago ended July with 74 people murdered, a higher count than last year’s total, as the police department released a wave of crime fighting tactics designed to combat the city’s gun problem.
Seventy-four people were killed in a spate of violence throughout the month of July, compared to the sixty-five people killed in July of 2016. The overall shootings went down, however — this past July saw 410 shootings, while July of 2016 had 31 more shootings.
Chicago seems to be on track to beat last year’s homicide count though. By Monday night, Chicago reported 409 homicides in the city. Chicago didn’t mark 400 homicides until Aug. 1 last year. The Chicago Police Department pointed out that there have been some improvements in how the city has been dealing with shootings in a press release to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
“July marked the fifth straight month that saw a decline in the number of shooting incidents compared to 2016 – the first time Chicago has seen a stretch this long since 2013 – as the city continues to expand predictive policing technology, invest in training and advance new enforcement tools to hold offenders accountable,” the department said.
Seventeen police districts out of 22 have seen shootings go down or have experienced no increase in shootings compared to 2016, the release stated. Five police districts experienced a decrease in shootings compared to 2016 and 2015, according to the release.
The CPD has also rolled out a variety of different tactics aimed at cracking down on gun crime. The department expanded their predictive policing strategy, which is supposed to help officers better track crime.
“Through greater training opportunities for our officers, more technology and resources to help them in the field, and strong partnerships with the community, we will continue to reduce the violence and take more guns off the streets,” CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a statement.
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