As Homicides Drop Nationwide, Chicago Lags Behind Other Major Cities. Why?

Crime overall is falling nationwide. But when it comes to homicides, Chicago’s numbers are not declining as quickly as the two largest cities in the nation — New York and Los Angeles.

Why isn’t Chicago’s homicide rate dropping at the same pace?

…“Chicago, like all other major cities, has areas that have higher crime rates than others,” says retired New York City police officer Jillian Snider, now an adjunct lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and policy director of criminal justice and civil liberties at the think tank R Street. “While Chicago does have higher violent crime rates compared to the national average, other cities such as Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chattanooga, Dallas, Memphis, Nashville, are experiencing higher rates of crime than Chicago.”