BRONZEVILLE — Mayor Brandon Johnson and Supt. Larry Snelling on Friday said they were committed to combatting the surge of armed robberies and carjackings across the city but offered few specifics on how policing strategies would change to prevent the crimes.
Robberies are up almost 30 percent across Chicago since 2021, according to police data. Some police districts are seeing far higher spikes stemming at least in part from brazen robbery crews attacking multiple victims in back-to-back incidents, officials said.
The robbery wave has left many across the city scared to walk their dog at night or home from a restaurant or CTA station, neighbors have told Block Club at community meetings over the past year. Others have expressed frustration police and the mayor aren’t taking the attacks as seriously as they should be.
As the typically higher-crime summer months approach, city leaders on Friday said they’re enacting a four-pronged plan to tackle robberies and carjackings, while also focusing on victims of those attacks.
That includes deploying “focus missions” to prevent the crimes and pursue suspects; continuing to use technology like license-plate readers and pod cameras; hosting preventive community events; and holding both offenders and police officers “accountable,” Snelling and Chief of Detectives Antoinette Ursitti said.
Snelling — speaking publicly for the first time since the release of videos of the fatal shooting of Dexter Reed by police — said the department’s renewed emphasis on robberies would begin with stolen vehicles, which robbery crews often use as getaway cars.
“We’re starting with stolen vehicles, because we know those stolen vehicles are being used in secondary crimes like robberies. In most cases where we have robberies that occurred, or robbery sprees, there are individuals who are jumping out of stolen vehicles,” he said.
Johnson on Friday reiterated his focus on solving the root causes of crime through bringing opportunities and investment to underserved communities. He pointed to decreases in homicides and shootings last year as proof the city was seeing “the benefits and the efforts” of his administration ramping up youth hiring and other initiatives.
Snelling and Ursitti said police have already rolled out “focus missions” targeting carjackings and robberies across the city and would continue to do so.
Ursitti cited an example from last month on the Northwest Side which she said led to the arrest of five suspects and the recovery of weapons and a “vehicle programmer” used to steal cars.
“The officers deployed in this robbery mission immediately honed in on these offenders and placed them into custody. Each was charged with multiple felonies, including armed robbery, possession of a stolen motor vehicle and unlawful use of a weapon,” Ursitti said.
On the Northwest Side, the Shakespeare (14th) Police District, which includes Wicker Park, Bucktown and parts of Logan Square, has reported a 61 percent increase in robberies since 2021. During that same period, the Grand Central (25th) Police District, which stretches from the western part of Logan Square to Belmont Cragin and Montclare, has seen a staggering 155 percent spike in robberies.
Throughout Friday’s press conference, Snelling said the department tries to use “air support” from its helicopter when available to assist police on the ground pursuing robbery suspects, where officers must undertake a “balancing test” in order to engage in a vehicle pursuit.
The chase policy, which some critics have said is too restrictive for officers to reasonably apprehend suspects, requires them to determine if a pursuit is absolutely necessary and “outweighs the level of inherent danger created by a motor vehicle pursuit,” according to department regulations.
Supporters, however, say the requirements are necessary to protect bystanders and officers themselves. City Hall in recent years has also paid out millions to people injured in flawed chases.
As robberies were surging last fall, one police sergeant at a Humboldt Park community meeting said state police, which have less stringent chase requirements, were “instrumental” in helping Chicago cops catch robbery suspects.
Asked on Friday if there was a de facto department policy asking state police to step in on chases, Snelling said there was not — but that Chicago cops often work with other officers when they’re available.
“We’re working in partnership, not only with our county, state, but we’re also working with our suburban partners, especially when it comes to the robbery missions, because some of these sprees start in the suburbs and they make their way into the city of Chicago,” Snelling said. “So we do work in partnership with people, but there’s nothing written for that.”
Both Snelling and Ursitti began their comments on Friday acknowledging the victims of robberies and other crime, and pledged “to make sure others do not have to endure such trauma.”
In addition to the focused missions and increased use of technology, police are hosting a series of events this spring including an anti-theft event for Kia and Hyundai owners and catalytic converter “etchings” to make thieves less likely to saw them off and sell them.
“This is different from what we’ve been doing. We don’t want an ad hoc approach to this. We want it to be focused, and we have expected outcomes and in order to do that, we have to have a focus,” Snelling said.
“Quite often, and over the years, we’ve been focused on so many other things, even the crime, that we have forgotten about the victims of those crimes. So we will be focusing on the victims of these crimes.”
Early Friday morning, three people were robbed at gunpoint in separate incidents 15 minutes apart in Lincoln Park, and four teens were arrested and charged in yet another robbery in Lakeview, police said.
Support Local News!
Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.
Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:
