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It’s Wednesday. You’re at the midpoint of the work week. Take a breather with these stories from WTTW News. |
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(WTTW News/Michael Izquierdo) |
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Chicago is seeing a historic drop in violent crime in the first half of the year. According to the Chicago Police Department, homicides and shootings are both down more than 30% in the first six months of the year compared to 2024. City data also shows significant declines in other categories like carjackings, robberies and aggravated assaults.
Through the first half of 2025, the CPD recorded 188 homicides and 665 shootings, which mark declines of 32% and 39%, respectively. City data also shows declines in carjackings (down 51%), robberies (down 32%), aggravated assaults (down 18%) and aggravated batteries (down 9%). While anti-violence advocates are pleased with the current numbers, they believe there’s still more work to be done.
“It makes me happy, but still cautiously optimistic, because it can change,” said Vaughn Bryant, executive director of the Metropolitan Peace Initiatives. “It’s unpredictable, but to know that there are 500 fewer victims that’s a good thing, in my mind.”
However, the number of criminal sexual assaults was up by less than 1% and human trafficking saw no change.
“I don’t think it’s really helpful to use the city’s homicide rate as a reflection of our success or failure at reducing gun violence, because the geography of every community is different,” said Jahmal Cole, CEO and founder of My Block, My Hood, My City. “A domestic violence dispute that ends up a homicide in Lakeview is a lot different from a drive-by shooting in East Garfield Park. So instead of tabulating all the homicides that we have, 1,200, 1,500, we need to be looking at what are people doing in these individual communities, and should those initiatives be expanded into broader strategies.”
More context:
Chicago isn’t the only city seeing these recent declines. According to a new analysis from the Council on Criminal Justice, the number of homicides in 30 cities that provided data was 17% lower when comparing the first half of 2025 to the same period in 2024, representing 327 fewer homicides in those cities.
Violence prevention leaders attribute the recent decline to several factors, including significant investments, federal funding, wraparound services and outreach workers. |
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So-called assault weapons are pictured in a file photo. (Credit: Roschetzky / iStock) |
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A pair of new bills signed into law this week take aim at improving gun safety in Illinois by strengthening storage requirements and expanding statewide participation in a federal firearm tracing program.
Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday signed the two bills into law, which he said will continue Illinois’ efforts to be among the most aggressive states in combating gun violence.
“I’m tired, frankly, of treating something completely preventable as inevitable,” he said at a press conference in Chicago. “I’m tired of hearing thoughts and prayers, and then nothing gets done. So Illinois is standing up and doing something about it.”
Pritzker signed into law the Safe Gun Storage Act, which outlines strengthened firearm storage requirements in homes where a gun could be accessed by a minor, an at-risk person, or someone otherwise prohibited from using firearms.
That legislation also adds civil penalties for improper storage security and requires gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within 48 hours upon discovery, cutting back the previous 72-hour requirement.
According to Pritzker’s office, states that have adopted secure firearm storage laws have seen decreases of up to 78% in unintentional shootings by children.
“Every year hundreds of children unintentionally shoot themselves or others,” Pritzker said, adding that in 75% of school shootings and 82% or adolescent suicides involving a firearm, the weapon used belonged to a family member. “Mandating secure and responsible storage is a critical first step in combating these problems and protecting our communities.”
What else happened?
The governor on Monday also signed HB1373, which requires every law enforcement agency in Illinois to participate in the federal firearm tracing platform eTrace, which he said will help strengthen investigations and make communities safer. |
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Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses the news media on Tuesday, July 29, 2025. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News) |
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Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday that Chicago officials must consider hiking taxes on large corporations as his administration prepares to confront a likely budget deficit of $1.2 billion during what officials have called one of the most difficult budget years in Chicago history.
“It’s on the table,” Johnson said Tuesday at a City Hall news conference where reporters pressed him to detail how he would find enough of what he calls “progressive” revenue to fill the city’s projected budget gap. “Everything has to be on the table. Everything has to be on the table.”
Some backstory:
The mayor’s remarks came just a few days after he said he would not propose increasing property taxes to help balance the city’s 2026 budget. City officials are scheduled to detail Chicago’s financial condition by the end of August.
Property taxes are the city’s largest source of revenue and the most effective way for city officials to raise revenue and ensure expenses do not outstrip costs. Most other revenue-generating proposals, like imposing a sales tax on services, not just goods, would require a change in state law. |
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Back in the Day: July 30, 1971 - Union Stockyards Close |
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In his iconic poem “Chicago,” writer Carl Sandburg dubbed the city “Hog Butcher for the World” thanks to its sprawling meatpacking industry, which transformed the way America sold, processed, transported and ate livestock for over a century. Founded in 1865 by tycoons like Philip Armour and Gustavus Swift, the massively profitable and controversial business was located at the Union Stockyards, four miles south of downtown on a drained swamp that at its peak covered a square mile of pens and slaughterhouses. The site was at the center of several labor disputes and workers’ rights campaigns, in part due to the litany of abuses and health hazards documented in Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.” On this day in 1971, the Union Stockyards closed for good. As WTTW points out, “By the mid-twentieth century, the construction of a national highway system and the advent of refrigerated trucks had begun to take business away from the stockyards.” |
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Chicago-Area Live Music Recommendations for July 30-Aug. 5 |
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Each Wednesday, WTTW News producer Josh Terry presents must-see live music shows from indie rock to jazz, country, hip-hop and more.
Friday, August 1:
Ghost at Allstate Arena. Tickets.
Want to get out of town for Lollapalooza and like metal? Try this show in Rosemont.
Saturday, August 2:
Isaiah Rashad, Ray Vaughn at Riviera. Tickets.
The experimental and introspective rapper plays a Lolla aftershow in Uptown.
Sunday, August 3:
SUMAC, Chepang, Patrick Shiroishi at Empty Bottle. Tickets. The adventurous and jam-minded post-metal group plays the second of two shows in Chicago this weekend.
Monday, August 4:
Orchestra Resavoir, Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few at Millennium Park. Free.
The sprawling jazz project of trumpeter, producer and Chicagoan Will Miller enlists an orchestra for this free show downtown.
Tuesday, August 5:
Death Cab For Cutie, Nation of Language at Chicago Theatre. Tickets.
Relive the indie rock explosion of the 2000s with these Washington state pioneers.
Sharpie Smile, Facing at Hideout. Tickets.
This duo recently earned a coveted “Album of the Week” designation from Stereogum for their latest full-length. |
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What’s your favorite movie that takes place in the Chicago area? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. |
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5:30 PM | 10:00 PM |
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Want more WTTW News content? Follow WTTW on Instagram to check in with us daily, go behind-the-scenes, and more. |
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry |
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