We’ve all heard the refrain that crime is down in Chicago — and, in general, that’s true. But while shootings and homicides overall have fallen, one category of violence has grown alarmingly worse: domestic violence.
Homicides in Chicago are down nearly 30% and fatal shootings have dropped by 32% year over year, according to city data.
But this other form of violent crime tragically is flourishing in Chicago. It’s happening in people’s homes rather than on the street.
If you separate domestic violence cases from other violent crimes, murders are up 30% and fatal shootings are up 53%. Illinois’ per-capita rate of deaths caused by a spouse or intimate partner — 0.49% — exceeded the combined rate in New York and California, according to the National Violent Death Reporting System.
“That shows us the system is not protecting women and children,” Ald. Silvana Tabares, 23rd, told us.
That’s why she filed a resolution to form a joint task force between the city and Cook County to focus on understanding the problem of domestic violence, where our government systems are working or failing, and coming up with ways to improve.
As of Tuesday, 45 of 50 Chicago aldermen had signed on to the resolution. Tabares expects it will pass Thursday, with a county companion ordinance being introduced by 6th District Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller to follow.
This is a crisis that deserves urgent attention.
Tabares is right that the dramatic uptick in domestic violence incidents is alarming, and those are just the incidents being reported. It’s a problem on a scale that government alone can’t solve, and that’s something Tabares acknowledged.
But government systems set up to serve and protect victims — and detain offenders — need to do their jobs to chip away at the problem as much as possible, and that’s where the task force comes in.
Too often, the danger signs are clear long before tragedy strikes. Repeat offenders cycle through the courts, victims struggle to navigate an overburdened system and agencies fail to share information in time to prevent the next attack. A task force that brings these silos together could save lives by ensuring warning signs get action and aren’t delayed in bureaucracy.
Under Tabares’ resolution, city leaders — from the Chicago Police Department to Family and Support Services to Chicago Public Schools — would meet monthly starting Dec. 1 to assess what’s working and what isn’t in protecting victims. After six months, the task force would present findings and recommendations in a public hearing.
We like that this is not a drawn-out process, but rather a compact, focused effort to tackle the problem and get serious about fixes while the issue is top of mind. Victims, after all, don’t have the luxury of waiting. And Tabares’ efforts were informed by survivors of domestic violence and tragic cases in the news, including the infamous failure of the system to help Laterria Smith, whose 11-year-old son, Jayden Perkins, was murdered as he tried to protect her from a violent ex-partner. His killer, Crosetti Brand, was sentenced in August to life in prison.
“You have taken away one of the greatest gifts God has blessed me with,” Jayden’s mother said in court. “He was a great kid. He saw what was happening and tried to help me.”
Brand had been convicted multiple times for physical abuse of Smith and other women, making threats against her and her mother, and violating orders of protection, according to court records. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board made the controversial decision to release Brand on March 12, 2024 — one day before the deadly attack.
We wish her story had been different. Her loss is a painful reminder of how much work remains to protect victims of domestic violence. Yet even in the face of such tragedy, many survivors and family members have found the strength to speak out — and their courage is helping to drive reform.
We applaud Tabares’ efforts and encourage the City Council to follow through Thursday and adopt this resolution.
Violence thrives in societies that fail to condemn it. Moral courage requires us not to look away from this problem, but to confront it directly. Many task forces end up producing reports collecting dust. For the sake of our families, we hope this one is impactful.
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