Chicago violent crime numbers up, arrests down across city

[February 06, 2025]  By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor

(The Center Square) – Republican state Sen. Steve McClure says Chicago’s rising violent crime numbers and data showing arrests have now dipped to just one in every seven such cases proves that criminal justice policies in the city and state are not working.

“It's going to take more law enforcement and laws that allow judges to detain people in jail who are dangerous,” McClure told The Center Square. “Right now, too many people will not be detained who are dangerous and that puts all of us at risk. Right now, the bad guys are winning on the streets of our state because the people that are supposed to be serving the public don't want to tie their hands.”

Police data shows Chicago residents reported 28,443 violent crimes in 2024, with aggravated assault cases hitting a 20-year high at 8,039 cases. At the same time, aggravated battery cases jumped by 3.1%, the largest percentage increase for a violent crime category, for a total of 9,132 cases.

“You've got some people that are in very dangerous situations, domestic violence situations and other situations that do not feel like they can go to get help the way that they should,” McClure said. “They need to hire more police and those police need to have more power to defend victims and to defend themselves.”

McClure said he's happy Kim Foxx is no longer Cook County States Attorney, arguing she spent too much time coddling criminals instead of protecting residents from them.

Illinois state Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield
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“It was a good thing that Kim Foxx go, but there are others that are in office that should not be there anymore,” he said. “And then, of course, the big one is with the SAFE-T Act. It limited who could be detained. The laws of our state need to be changed to make sure that judges can hold anyone who commits a felony if they're a danger to the public.”

As a former prosecutor, McClure said he’s convinced such a dismal arrest rate when it comes to some of the city’s most violent crimes only serves to add to the lack of trust and uneasiness between residents and law enforcement.

“Because of the SAFE-T Act, people don't want to call police because they figure nothing's going to happen to the bad guy,” he said. “The system itself, just the way that it is, creates a distrust among citizens and government. It just causes criminals to be emboldened and law-abiding citizens not to want to even bother with calling the police. I think the policies have caused phone calls to go down and I would say people don't want to call the police anymore because they don't think they can do anything.”

After serving two terms, Foxx elected not to seek re-election in 2024.

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