South suburban Harvey reports highest number of homicides in years

HARVEY, Ill. - A Chicago suburb is registering a multiyear high number of homicides.

The Daily Southtown reports Harvey’s 19 homicides this year is more than any Cook County municipality outside Chicago since at least 2012. It says the number is 70% higher than Harvey’s homicide figure for all of 2018.

Officials attribute the uptick to multiple factors, including police department layoffs in 2018. They say making patrols more visible and closer cooperation with law enforcement agencies outside Harvey should help lower numbers.

The city of some 25,000 is south of Chicago.

Meanwhile, Chicago is reporting the lowest number of November homicides in years. The Chicago Police Department said in a Sunday new release that 32 people were killed in November compared to 45 last November. There were 79 in November 2016.