Crain’s Chicago Business Details Chicago’s 10-Year Low in Violent Crime

Chicago is set to close out the year with historic declines in violent crime, as detailed in a new report from Crain’s Chicago Business. City leaders, law enforcement officials, and Community Violence Intervention (CVI) experts acknowledge that their combined efforts have helped make 2025 one of the city’s safest years in decades.

An analysis from the city’s Violence Reduction Dashboard shows that overall violent crime is at a 10-year low, in comparison to reaching a 10-year high in 2023. In high-crime communities, 61 out of the city’s 77 neighborhoods saw substantially fewer people shot in 2025 than on average in the years 2010 to 2024.

Experts list several factors behind this drop in rates, including improved law enforcement operations, deeper investments in CVI work, and a more clearly defined “professional understanding” between the Chicago Police Department and CVI groups. 

Still, all agree that one violent crime is one too many, and that the work must continue.

“It is a different climate, but we all know that violence is a finicky thing,” said Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI) Executive Director Vaughn Bryant, in comparing the declines to the high rates the city experienced during the pandemic. MPI convenes Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), a coalition of 15 CVI organizations serving 28 communities experiencing the highest levels of gun violence.

Organizations like Breakthrough Urban Ministries serving East Garfield Park and the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO) serving Humboldt Park have seen firsthand how vital CVI services can help transform communities. Both neighborhoods have seen gun violence trending down, which is a testament to their investments in street outreach, behavioral health services, workforce development and more.

Breakthrough Urban Ministries Executive Director Yolanda Fields and ALSO Executive Director Lori Crowder note, “For the first time in two decades Chicago will experience four years in a row of declining gun violence, coinciding with the largest drop in gun violence since 1965… For us, these statistics are not only encouraging to see, but they also represent lives saved and opportunities for individuals to utilize the resources we make available to them to pursue dignified lives.”

Read the full Crain’s report here.