Overall crime down, shootings up in Chicago, CPD says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- While the Chicago Police Department touts a drop in overall crime, shootings are up and violence is a key issue in the upcoming election.

Compared to last year, overall crime in Chicago is down about 12-percent and the 2014 murder rate is approaching a significant low, according to Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.

"Right now we're at the lowest murder rate since 1965. The lowest in 49 years. Overall crime is down 12-percent from last year and 22 percent from two years ago," McCarthy said.

"Progress, not success" is the mantra of the superintendent, who acknowledges that while some crime numbers are trending in the right direction, the number of shootings in Chicago in 2014 is up. A portion of that is due to ongoing gang conflict, which is prevalent in parts of Humboldt Park where murders have jumped and further west in Austin where they've remained static.

"And they want to know why Austin leads the city in murders. It's not because we're bad people over here," the Rev. Ira Acree, Greater St. John Bible Church, said.

The West Side minister applauds Chicago Police Department efforts, but said the city has done too little to address joblessness and, he believes, a need for more fulltime police officers.

"Many times they're overworked and overwhelmed. Why not invest money in the police department budget to hire officers who work fulltime?" Acree said.

Adding more cops is also the call from mayoral candidate Jesus "Chuy" Garcia who argues that the city ought to rethink the $100 million it spends for police overtime and hire new officers instead.

"The officers who are being used through overtime are not officers who are highly motivated. (They have) already worked a full day. They are not the best officers for building trust and mutual respect," Garcia said.

The financial reality, according to Supt. McCarthy, is that the cost of overtime yields more bang for the buck.

"A fully loaded officer with health benefits and everything else that comes with it is more expensive than an officer being paid overtime to do the same thing," Supt. McCarthy said.