Chicago's Murders in 2021 Reach Deadly Mark Not Seen in 25 Years

Chicago endured one of its deadliest years in at least the last quarter-century in 2021, according to Chicago Police Department data, information from other law enforcement and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

According to case data from the medical examiner released Monday, that office handled more than 1,000 homicides last year, including 836 in the city of Chicago. It was the first time the office had handled that many homicides since 1994, it reported.

According to CPD, a total of 797 people were killed in the city, a figure not seen since 798 were slain in 1996.

But that total count does not include people shot and killed in shootings on Chicago expressways, as they are the jurisdiction of the Illinois State Police. When that number is included the city reached at least 800 homicides, according to Tribune reporting in 2021.

The CPD figure also does not include self-defense shootings or fatal shootings by police officers.

According to the medical examiner, Blacks were the victims of 80% of the homicides handled by the office. More than 1,000 homicides here were gun-related, the office said.

“Males accounted for 88% of homicide deaths,” the office reported in a statement. “Eighty-six homicide deaths were under 18; 12 were under the age of 10.”

The Chicago police figure includes all manner of homicides, but the overwhelming majority of slayings in the city — more than 90% — were a result of gun violence, statistics show.

All told, there were at least 4,300 gunshot victims, including those who suffered both fatal and nonfatal injuries, according to CPD data. The number is a significant increase from 2018, when 2,800 people were shot.

The increase in gun violence, mirrored in other major cities, has coincided with the two years of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.

The emergence of the coronavirus has caused disruption across the country but disproportionately so in communities already suffering from high rates of violence and decades of drained resources and services.

The increase in violence also came as police departments nationwide found themselves under intense criticism in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by an on-duty Minneapolis police officer.

A two-year snapshot of violence in Chicago shows about a 60% increase in homicides, though the one-year increase overall was significantly smaller at 3.2%.

The 2021 increase was the first time Chicago has recorded more than 700 homicides since 778 were logged in 2016. That increase was quickly reversed, while the 2021 number comes in the second half of the two-year window and as the pandemic continues to roil American society.

There were specific bright spots in the Chicago data, with police districts that have long suffered from high violence posting noteworthy declines in homicides over the one-year period between 2020 and 2021. Those include Austin on the West Side and Englewood and South Chicago on the South Side, according to department data.

Department data also shows the continued prevalence of guns in Chicago.

Officers here seized 12,000 firearms, a record number, according to a statement released last week by police with their year-end data. The number of firearm seizures also included 706 assault weapons, 61% more compared to all of 2020, the statement said.

In the statement, Superintendent David Brown noted the effort his officers are making under trying circumstances.

“This has been a difficult year for everyone and there has never been a tougher time to be a police officer in this country, but the men and women of the Chicago Police Department have tirelessly served every neighborhood every day,” Brown said. “We must keep working together because keeping our streets safe will always be an all-in effort.”

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