Both Philadelphia and Chicago have had major increases in the number of homicide victims over the past few years, and now the two cities are each closing in on 100 homicides already in 2022.
Philadelphia has had a reported 98 homicide victims as of March 8, which is nine more homicides than the city had last year at the same time. While in Chicago, a spokesperson for the police department told Fox News Digital that there has been 97 homicides as of March 7.
In 2021, there were a total of 562 homicide victims in Philadelphia, 63 more than in 2020 and a drastic 206 more than in 2019, according to the Philadelphia Police Department Crime Map.
Chicago also saw a rise in homicides in 2021, as the city suffered the most homicide victims since 1996, according to NBC Chicago. There were 797 homicides in 2021, 25 more than took place in 2020, and 299 more than in 2019.
"We all know this has been a challenging year here in the city of Chicago," Police Superintendent David Brown said on Jan. 1. "Too many families are reeling from the loss of (loved) ones due to senseless gun violence."
There has been 367 shootings in Chicago through March 6, down 5% from 2021. Philadelphia has dealt with 664 shooting incidents in the same time period, up slightly from 656 last year.
Retired Philadelphia police deputy commissioner Joe Sullivan spoke to Fox News Digital on Tuesday and said that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's policies have led to increased gun violence in the city.
"You can follow a timeline of the rise in homicide and the rise in violent crime and compare that to when the present DA took office, and you can see the relationship very easily. Without a doubt, the communities that are most impacted are communities of color – somewhere between 85 and 95% of all homicide victims in the city of Philadelphia are citizens of color," Sullivan said.
"What concerns me, whether you’re a reformed DA or a conservative DA, if you have an increase of crime within your jurisdiction, you should be always be willing to take a second look at what you’re doing," Sullivan said. "But he seems very unwilling to acknowledge that some of his policies have not had the intended consequences."
As for other crimes besides homicides, both Chicago and Philadelphia have dealt with increases in a number of different categories.
Through March 6, there was a 30% increase of burglaries in Chicago from 939 to 1,224. While Philadelphia had a 44.77% increase over the last year, going from 239 burglaries to 346.
Motor vehicle theft has gone up 43% in Chicago, from 1,615 incidents to 2,315. In Philadelphia there has been a 33.81% increase in theft from automobiles.
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