Police: Homicides in Chicago down by nearly 100 in 2018

CHICAGO (AP) — Preliminary numbers show homicides in Chicago dropped by about 100 over the last year compared to 2017.

Police said Tuesday that 561 homicides were committed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2018. That compares to 660 homicides in 2017 and more than 770 in 2016, which was a 19-year high.

Police say official numbers for 2018 should be released in several weeks.

Although the decrease is significant, Chicago’s homicide total again eclipses the combined totals in New York City and Los Angeles.

Chicago police credit last year’s drop in part to the addition of more than a 1,000 new officers and the reliance on technology and predictive analytics to quickly get officers to areas where violence is most likely to erupt.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson tells the Chicago Tribune the city is “taking steps in the right direction.”