Police: Downward trend in shootings continues in April

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - The number of shootings in Chicago declined for the second month in a row in April, according to Chicago Police.

Forty-five people were fatally shot in Chicago during the month, which saw 313 people shot in 247 separate incidents, according to police statistics released early Monday, as well as data maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Shootings are down almost 13 percent this year compared to this time last year, police said. So far, there have been about 9 percent fewer shooting victims compared to 2016.

Police said the decline in shootings continues from March, when 209 people were shot, 35 of them fatally.

Fifteen of the city’s 22 police districts saw a reduction or remained flat in shootings compared to this time last year, police said.

Police credited the police department’s new crime tip submission site, CPDTip.com, in helping to reduce crime. The site allows residents to anonymously report crimes directly to police on their mobile device.

In April, the Superintendent’s Community Policing Advisory Panel also held the first two of three public discussions on community policing and administered more than 2,000 online surveys on the topic. The results will be reviewed and incorporated into recommendations that the panel will present to Supt. Eddie Johnson later this spring, police said.

The Illinois Senate passed two bills in April, which Johnson testified in favor of, aiming to reduce gun violence, police said.

The Safe Neighborhoods Reform Act offers guidelines to judges for higher sentences for repeat gun offenders, and the Gun Dealer Licensing Act would regulate and monitor gun dealers to hold dealers who continue to sell guns that are used in crimes accountable. Both bills are awaiting passage in the Illinois House of Representatives.

“Through our continued discussions as a city, efforts by CPD officers on the street, and action on this repeat offender legislation in Springfield, we will have a powerful and comprehensive movement toward making our streets safer and rebuilding public trust,” Johnson said in a statement.