Chicago officials call for calm ahead of Memorial Day weekend as homicides decline
Chicago mayor, top cop talk crime prevention and summer safety ahead of Memorial Day
Chicago's mayor and top cop are speaking on summer safety and violence ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
CHICAGO - Chicago’s top officials are calling for calm ahead of Memorial Day weekend — often one of the city’s most violent — as homicides continue to fall and the summer season begins.
What we know:
Homicides are down by 40 compared to this time last year, and the city is on pace to finish the year with fewer than 400 homicides for the first time in decades — if the downward trend holds through the warmer months, which typically bring a spike in violence.
Mayor Brandon Johnson, Police Superintendent Larry Snelling and other officials held the city’s annual pre-Memorial Day safety press conference Thursday, emphasizing that public safety depends on more than just law enforcement.
"Now, to get through the summer again and make it the most peaceful summer that we can possibly have, we are going to need everyone. Everyone has to step up. We as a police department, we are not going to arrest our way out of this. And if we can avoid making arrests, that's a good day for us," Snelling said.
City-led initiatives for the weekend include a basketball tournament in high-crime neighborhoods and the deployment of dozens of community violence intervention workers to work alongside police.
One tool officers won’t have this year is the ability to impose a snap curfew — an emergency power currently on hold in the City Council.
Johnson has expressed skepticism about the measure and pointed to the drop in homicides as evidence his broader safety strategy is working.
"Shootings are down. Shooting victims are down. Robberies are down. All of that is the result of collective response and responsibility. I remember the 90s when it was 900 people getting murdered every single year. I remember that. We have turned the page. We're going to build the safest, most affordable big city in America and we're going to do it together," Johnson said.
Memorial Day weekend traditionally marks the unofficial start of summer and has long been associated with a surge in shootings and violent crime in the Chicago area.