Chicago Mayor Lightfoot talks crime fighting strategy with NYC Mayor Eric Adams 

On Friday afternoon, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot had a meeting with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, which included conversations revolving around ideas for ways to combat the two cities’ shared issue of violent crime.

The pair discussed behind closed doors for around 40 minutes, as crime is an important concern for each as the year heads into summer months.

“What I enjoyed the most about the conversation that the two of us shared is, how we both focus on not only the immediate action – we must do to keep our streets safe – but it’s intervention and prevention,” Adams noted.

Lightfoot also commented on the meeting, saying, “We’ve got to make sure that we hold violent, dangerous people accountable – on that, we both agree. But we also, as the mayor said, and I think very eloquently, stopping this river of violence.” 

Even though Chicago’s population is just one-third the number of New York’s, the Illinois city has a worse crime problem. According to data for this year alone, New York City has seen 76 murders while there have been 104 in Chicago.

Accounting for population, that means Chicago’s murder rate is four times higher. Shootings further demonstrate the disparity between the two cities, as New York has seen 217 shooting incidents compared to 396 in Chicago. Those statistics make Chicago’s shooting rate five times that of New York City. 

Adams noted that he has some takeaways from their meeting that he looks forward to implementing on a more extensive scale in New York. “How the mayor is going on the ground, doing the local town halls to speak with grassroots communities and organizers. It’s so important to do so,” Adams said. He added that he and Lightfoot are the right mayors for confronting this problem.

While the pair did not discuss police reform, they share the same focus on building back the community’s trust. “I think we both recognize that you build trust by being present and engaging and listening to the community,” Lightfoot said.