2021 goes down as Chicago’s deadliest year in the past 25 years.

The number of shooting incidents was also shockingly high for 2021. There were 3561 of them, which is almost double the total number of the same incidents for the year 2019.

Chicago, despite having a much smaller population, also had more total homicides in the year 2021 than did New York or Los Angeles, according to the Associated Press.

These alarming numbers are also despite the fact that the Chicago police department (CPD) takes more illegal guns out of circulation than any other police department in the nation.

In 2021, 12,088 guns wound up in CPD custody, which is a new record high. This is thought to be mainly due to the creation of a new unit within the CPD which focuses solely on confiscating illegal guns.

CPD Superintendent David Brown stated during a press conference:

"We all know this has been a challenging year here in the city of Chicago. Too many families are reeling from the loss of [loved] ones due to senseless gun violence."

Brown also pledged that 2022 would be a vast improvement, commenting that "there will be more officers on the street, not just in patrol cars or behind desks, to interact with all Chicagoans."