By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, studies Chicago’s somewhat mixed-bag crime trend data with little question about what he feels needs to come next in the ongoing fight for peace and greater public safety.

New data shows over the last year even as homicides were at a 10-year low, arrests in those cases also fell from 42% to 27%, or just 133 apprehensions in 498 investigations.

“We got to be very clear about the fact that public safety is foundational,” Buckner told The Center Square. “If people don’t feel safe in their homes, on the train, walking their kids to school, nothing else that we do as government really matters. This data deserves to be looked at fully to figure out what we’re doing right so we can do more of it and what we’re doing wrong so we can do less. I think we have the opportunity to move beyond reaction and for systemic change.”

Statistics also show residents on the city’s West and South sides saw the most bloodshed, as the city was once more tagged the country’s homicide capital for the 13th straight year. For the eighth time over the last decade, the Austin neighborhood was again the deadliest with 47 murders.

Buckner said none of the numbers truly tell the full story.

“Real safety isn’t just the absence of violence, it’s the presence and the pervasiveness of peace,” he said. “To me, peace looks like jobs that people can count on, like schools that are safe, neighborhoods where businesses can thrive, public transit that feels secure. We got to celebrate progress without ignoring gaps in accountability.”

While the city recorded as many as 573 murders in 2024, its overall dimming arrest rate coincides with a trend of fewer officers patrolling the streets. Since 2019, the number of sworn police officers has dipped by more than 2,100 members.

“I think the work that the superintendent in Chicago has been doing has been well received,” Buckner said. “We’ve seen some results in those spaces and I commend him for his work. There’s always more that we should be doing and I think we work best when we realize that it’s not all of our fault, but it is all of our responsibility to find a way to get to a better spot.”

Overall violent crime numbers are also down over the last year with 25,707 offenses reported in 2024 compared to 26,468 a decade earlier.