Gun violence was down slightly in the first three months of the year in the city, according to Chicago Police Department data released Friday.
According to the data, shootings are down from 582 as of March 31 2021 to 508 this year. There have been 10 fewer homicides, with a total of 128 so far this year, police reported.
The declines came during the traditionally less violent months, which means they offer little in the way of knowing yet whether Chicago is reversing the deadly two-year 60% gun violence spike that happened in the wake of the pandemic and a national reckoning on policing in America.
In a statement releasing the data, the department also noted it had recovered 2,541 guns, an average of more than 28 guns each day.
The statement also noted its stepped up recruiting efforts, highlighting the recent decision to waive the 60-semester-hour requirement if a candidate meets criteria such as military experience, work and life experience, or a combination.
The department said the recruitment effort is “part of the Department’s multipronged effort to enhance public safety through building a more diverse department and putting more officers on the street.”
Recruitment heading into the warmer summer months is a critical question, given the recent increase in retirements across the department. More than 660 Chicago police officers retired and collected their pensions in 2021, according to data from the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago. The number is about double from 2018, when about 350 officers retired and collected their pensions.
The reductions in gun violence were met with cautious and yet hopeful optimism by both experts and those leading the efforts to reduce violence in the city.