Metro East Sun

Illinois Sen. Darren Bailey said new data on police arrests in 2022 that shows arrests were made for only 5% of major crimes in Chicago points to a disconnect between policymakers and the average citizen affected by crime.

According to data shared Feb. 3 by Wirepoints, arrests for murders, sexual assaults, aggravated batteries and carjackings in 2022 were significantly down from the 10% reported in 2019. Bailey said those numbers point to a need for different leadership.

"I think this certainly gives us all the proof that we need about Mayor Lightfoot and State’s Attorney Kim Foxx not caring about crime as much as they should," Bailey told the Metro East Sun. "They refuse to prosecute and arrest, and people are leaving Chicago because of it."

The 5% total for "major crimes" includes murders, sexual assaults, aggravated battery, robberies, burglaries, thefts and motor vehicle thefts, Wirepoints reported. Arrest rates varied by the type of crime, based on the seven categories that cities typically report to the federal government. Chicago’s homicide arrest rate went down 5% to 29% in 2022 – a 13% drop from 2020.

The highest arrest rate among thefts in 2022 was the nearly 9,000 retail thefts, or a 16% arrest rate, according to Wirepoints. Of the nearly 20,000 thefts valued at more than $500, just 1% of cases resulted in arrests, and of the nearly 19,000 thefts of $500 and under, just 1.6% of cases resulted in arrests. For the almost 5,000 “thefts from a building” category, the arrest rate was 0.5%.

Bailey believes the numbers shed light on the difference between the spin leaders like Lightfoot portray and the reality on the streets.

"I think there’s this new trend to give criminals more freedom than law-abiding citizens and this socialist mindset is driving it all," he said. "They talk about crime being down, but people are living a totally different story."  

Change, he said, has to begin at the top. 

"I think we’ve got to start electing better people," Bailey said. "Chicago needs to elect a mayor that believes in law and order. People want to be safe and I think that would be a place to start."