Murder continues to be a problem for large cities on each side of Illinois, according to new numbers.
A report by Wirepoints looks at 2022 homicide statistics in the 75 largest U.S. cities and shows that for the third straight year, Chicago leads the way in total number of homicides. St. Louis came in at No. 2 for homicide rates.
“What we found was there was still an alarming number of homicides in many of our nation’s biggest cities, and very alarming homicide rates in a number of cities as well,” Wirepoints Senior Editor Matt Rosenberg told The Center Square. “Chicago is the leader, far and away, in the number of homicides.”
In 2022, Chicago saw 697 murders happen in their city limits. For murder rate, Chicago landed at No. 13 with 25.8 homicides per 100,000.
Rosenberg said a lack of appropriate prosecution has led to criminals being set free to commit more crimes.
“We found that there are some common denominators in the cities that have a persistent homicide problem, and in the end, it goes back to political leadership,” Rosenberg said. “Looking at just the major crimes, it’s amazing. Ninety-five percent of the time that criminals commit a reported crime in Chicago, they do not even get arrested.”
Southern Illinoisans are also being affected by St Louis, which had the second highest homicide rate nationally with 68.2 homicides per 100,000. That’s behind only New Orleans with 74.3 homicides per 100,000.
Rosenberg said St. Louis has continued to grow in terms of amount of homicides.
“Both St. Louis and Baltimore had almost identical and very high rates, even in 2019, when compared to 2022,” Rosenberg said. “In a city like St. Louis or a city like Baltimore, if you look at governance, there is endemic corruption.”
***Courtesy of the Illinois Radio Network***
