Chicago 2012 Murders Pass New York’s, Guns Still Top Homicide Weapon [Report]

Chicago had more total murders in 2012 than any other US city, including New York City and Los Angeles. These figures come from recently released FBI data detailing reported crime from last year. This is especially interesting when noting that Chicago has a smaller population than either NYC or Los Angeles. However, many other US cities have a higher per capita murder rate than Chicago, including Detroit, New Orleans, Newark, and Oakland.

In 2011, the FBI data reports that Chicago had 431 homicides. However, in 2012 that number grew to a total of 500 murders. This is the first time since 2008 murders in the Windy City have reached 500. New York City, now second, had a reported 419 homicides while Detroit had 386 last year.

These numbers come out as police Superintendent Garry McCarthy wages war on the perception that Chicago has become the US murder capital, reports NBC Chicago. McCarthy says that in 2013 homicide rates have already dropped by 23 percent so far.

Even so, Chicago has had a bloody summer. In a single May night, 20 people were shot, three left dead. In July, a particularly violent weekend left 10 dead in several different incidents. As RT reports, these incidents even had State Representative Monique Davis (D) ask that the governor allow the National Guard to patrol Chicago streets.

The FBI report also shows that for the first time in several years the number of total violent crimes has risen. However, violent per capita crime rates are continuing to drop. 2012 violent crime rates have dropped more than 12 percent since 2008. Murders make up about 1.2 percent of the total violent crime rate across the nation.

An important figure to note is the finding that firearms were used in over 69 percent of all homicides across the nation. Politicians and much of the media have framed the flailing gun control debate around restricting certain rifles, like the AR-15. However, the data clearly shows that handgun use is much more common than use of any other type of firearm.

Despite Chicago claiming the crown for most murders in 2012, it still has lower violent and property crime rates than a dozen other cities, including Atlanta, Kansas City, and Cleveland.

[Image via Rares M. Dutu via photopin cc]