Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Chicago had a "significant reduction" in homicides in 2017 compared to the year before, the Chicago Police Department said on Monday.
The Windy City saw 650 homicides last year, which was down from 771 in 2016 -- a 16 percent decrease, the CPD said. But the city passed the 600-mark for only the second time in 20 years and had a higher homicide total than New York City and Los Angeles combined.
"I am proud of the progress our officers made in reducing gun violence all across the city in 2017, but none of us are satisfied," CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson said in a statement, according to CNN. "In 2018, we are going to work to build on the progress we made last year -- to reduce gun violence, to save lives and to find justice for victims."
The total number of homicides in Chicago was 685, including seven people killed by Chicago police officers, according to the Cook County medical examiner. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the numbers differ because the CPD doesn't count homicides that it deems justified or homicides that occur on city expressways because those fall under the jurisdiction of the Illinois State Police.
In addition to the murder rate falling, shooting incidents were greatly reduced.
Chicago had 2,785 shooting incidents in 2017, compared to 3,550 in 2016. Fewer shooting incidents led to fewer wounded people. Last year saw 3,475 Chicagoans wounded with a bullet, compared to 4,349 in 2016.
