CHICAGO -- Chicago is poised to end 2004 with its lowest murder rate since 1965, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday. A decrease in killings in some of the city's most dangerous neighborhoods has led to a 25 percent decline in the murder rate through November 2004, vs. the same 11-month period of 2003.
The findings come three years after Chicago was dubbed the murder capital of the United States. After gaining the dubious title, Mayor Richard Daly sent city leaders to New York and Los Angeles to pick up tips on fighting crime.
Among other changes, the Chicago Police Department has saturated high-crime neighborhoods with officers, boosted gang intelligence by wiring informants and questioning drug suspects about more serious crimes such as murders and shootings.
The hard work appears to have paid off, the paper said. As of Tuesday, 418 killings had been reported, while the city appeared set to close out the year with fewer than 500 murders for the first time in 40 years.
