Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said that's the result of better police work. McCarthy said the murder rate has dropped and overall crime in the city is down.
"Whether or not we are there yet? No. Four hundred murders is nothing to celebrate, but the fact is progress is being made," McCarthy said.
Last year, 503 people were murdered in Chicago. In 2013, there were 100 fewer murders and 700 fewer shooting victims than in 2012. McCarthy said changing his department to a performance based system where commanders are held accountable is helping...
"I think there has been a great buy in of the institutionalization of the things we are doing, which results in things like a lower murder rate," McCarthy said.
McCarthy also said creating saturation zones in violent-prone parts of the city's South and West sides and trying to help hundreds of people whom police identified as "at risk" for causing violence helped reduce the rate. However, McCarthy said for the trend to continue next year, gun laws must change for criminals caught carrying illegal firearms.
"If people don't go to jail and there is no significant sanction for carrying a firearm, the gains we are making are going to slow down," McCarthy said.
