Each summer, holiday weekends pose a challenge to public safety in Chicago. The Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day weekends are, historically, three of the most violent that the city sees in a given year.
More Top Picks Best Digital Voice Recorders
Violence during marquee summer weekends has been tempered as of late, including last weekend, when between Friday afternoon and early Monday the city saw four homicides, according to police.
Violence has fallen sharply overall in Chicago in recent years after a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, though the city’s illustrious criminal history still serves as a political punching bag when convenient. Still, Chicago will soon face such holidays without its top police boss, as Superintendent Larry Snelling’s tenure draws to a close.
Large holiday gatherings have occasionally turned tragic quickly, especially in recent years as the city has seen a proliferation of “switches,” which can turn a semi-automatic handgun into a machine gun. That has meant more shootings with multiple victims in recent years.
But it has been hard to argue with some of Snelling’s recent successes.
During the Memorial Day holiday weekend this year for example, the unofficial start of summer, not a single homicide was recorded in Chicago.
Last week, Snelling announced his retirement from the Chicago Police Department after more than three decades, the last three as superintendent. His last day is July 15.
As he has throughout his time as superintendent, Snelling credited the officers under his command for the city’s progress in reducing shootings.
“During the past three years, I have had the privilege to lead this department through the 2024 Democratic National Convention and a record-low reduction in shootings, homicides and violent crime,” Snelling said in a statement last week, recalling another major event his department was credited with handling well.
“While this happened during my tenure as Superintendent, the hard and courageous work of the members of the Chicago Police Department should be given the credit,” the outgoing boss went on. “Though I am proud of what we have achieved, there is more to be done, and I am confident that we created a foundation for further progress.”
Fourth of July violence
Despite the relatively low number of homicides, the city was not without high-profile close calls over the weekend.
Friday afternoon, a suspect allegedly shot two CPD officers — one in his bulletproof vest, the other in his arm — after a pursuit on the South Side. Officers returned fire and struck the man several times. He was listed in critical condition and was later charged with attempted murder and other felonies.
Early Sunday, two shootings on the same block in West Garfield Park left seven people, mostly teens, with non-life-threatening injuries.
But fatal shootings in West Garfield Park, Austin and Englewood claimed the lives of a 33-year-old man, a 31-year-old man and another male whose age wasn’t known Monday, according to CPD and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. A 62-year-old man was also fatally stabbed in West Englewood.
Halfway through 2026, violence has slightly ticked up in Chicago, a counter move from the dips in recent years. As of July 3, the medical examiner’s office reported 225 homicides in Chicago so far this year — 10 more than in the same period in 2025.
However, CPD data show the increase in overall city violence can be traced to the neighborhoods covered in Area 1, roughly bounded by Cermak Road, 79th Street and Lake Michigan. Through late June, Area 1 recorded 69 homicides, compared with 41 in the first six months of 2025.
The mayor
Before Memorial Day weekend, Mayor Brandon Johnson announced the “2026 Summer Safety Strategy” focused on “preventing violence, strengthening neighborhoods, and expanding access to resources through coordinated community investment and engagement.”
“Safety is built through presence, partnership, and investment in our neighborhoods. Community safety is not just about responding to harm — it’s about preventing it before it happens,” Johnson said in a statement in May. “This strategy reflects our commitment to working alongside residents and community organizations to expand opportunity, strengthen trust between law enforcement and our residents, and show up in our communities with the resources and care needed to keep Chicagoans safe this summer and beyond.”
Asked about Snelling’s replacement, Johnson praised the outgoing superintendent, then said he would “focus on what I’m always focused on.”
“Having people who understand the full assignment,” he said. “That it’s not policing alone, they play a part, and I’ve worked to improve our detectives bureau to hire and promote more detectives, that work is important, but it also includes someone who understands the value of CVI, community violence intervention, workers.”
The mayor tapped CPD veteran Fred Waller to serve as interim superintendent while he looks to fill the vacancy. Waller, who served in that same temporary capacity before Snelling was named to the top spot, is currently the deputy director in the superintendent’s office. Former First Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter also served as interim superintendent in 2023 before Waller.
The Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability will, once again, lead the nationwide search for CPD’s next permanent leader. In 2023, the commission’s three finalists for the superintendent position were Snelling; Shon Barnes, the chief of police in Madison, Wisconsin; and Angel Novalez, CPD’s chief of constitutional policing and reform.
More Top Picks Best Flat Top Griddles For Outdoor Cooking
Insider on an inside track?
Novalez, 53, has overseen many of CPD’s reform efforts in the wake of the 2015 release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video and would likely be considered for the permanent job again if he applied.
Born in Puerto Rico, Novalez moved to Chicago with his family in the 1970s. He joined the department in 2000 and was previously assigned to the Near West (12th) District, the training academy, Area 4 and the Grand Central District (25th) on the Northwest Side.
After he was shot in the line of duty, Novalez quickly rose through the ranks to oversee many of the department’s community-building efforts, including the CAPS program. In recent months, he’s acted as Snelling’s emissary during meetings of the Chicago Police Board.