Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling admitted to inaccurately reporting that the majority of homicide cases this year had been cleared by the department.
Snelling, who was confirmed as Chicago’s top police officer in September, spoke at two separate forums in January, overstating the number of homicide cases that have been resolved in 2024, claiming the clearance rate for homicides was over 70%.
Speaking on Jan. 30 at a Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability forum, Snelling told West Side residents, “Of the homicides that we’ve had this year, which is 25, 19 of those have been cleared already.” Appearing at another event, Snelling told the Economic Club of Chicago that Chicago police solved 20 out of 26 homicide cases.
On Friday, the Chicago Police Department released data showing only three homicide cases as of Jan. 25 had been cleared by arresting and charging the suspects. In a statement per CWB Chicago that same day, Snelling acknowledged the incorrect numbers as a “miscommunication.”
“This was my miscommunication and I own it. My goal in discussing these cases was to bring attention to the victims and communities plagued by the trauma of violence,” Snelling said. “My miscommunication should not overshadow the great work being done by the Bureau of Detectives to bring justice to the victims and a measure of closure to their families.”
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While 19 cases have been cleared this year, 16 of those cases concerned murders committed in the previous year.
Out of the 797 murders recorded in 2021, the police department closed 400 cases, but half of those cases resulted in no charges, a Chicago Sun-Times analysis found.