Chicago mayor touts 2024 crime decrease, aims for bigger drop in 2025

CHICAGO - Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pointed to decreasing violent crime numbers this year and said he's hoping for an even bigger drop in 2025.

Johnson spoke at the City Club of Chicago on Tuesday, his first speech there since taking office.

He pointed out that homicides, shootings, carjackings, robberies and sexual assaults are all down from last year. So far in 2024, Chicago has recorded 532 homicides, compared to 617 in 2023.

"Yes we have work to do, but in 2025, we have the opportunity for the first time in over a decade to have less than 500 homicides," Johnson said. "We have an opportunity for less life to be lost if we actually put in the hard work, roll up our sleeves and not allow the narrative that comes from the outside to determine who we are as a city."

The mayor said the progress the city is seeing is not random.

Crime numbers are dropping in the Austin neighborhood where most young people were hired for the city's summer jobs program for youth. Johnson said that's proof it's not just about policing, but about investing in people.