Violence Reduction - Victims of Homicides and Non-Fatal Shootings
This dataset contains individual-level homicide and non-fatal shooting victimizations, including homicide data from 1991 to the present, and non-fatal shooting data from 2010 to the present (2010 is the earliest available year for shooting data). This dataset includes a "GUNSHOT_INJURY_I " column to indicate whether the victimization involved a shooting, showing either Yes ("Y"), No ("N"), or Unknown ("UKNOWN.") For homicides, injury descriptions are available dating back to 1991, so the "shooting" column will read either "Y" or "N" to indicate whether the homicide was a fatal shooting or not. For non-fatal shootings, data is only available as of 2010. As a result, for any non-fatal shootings that occurred from 2010 to the present, the shooting column will read as “Y.” Non-fatal shooting victims will not be included in this dataset prior to 2010; they will be included in the authorized-access dataset, but with "UNKNOWN" in the shooting column.
Each row represents a single victimization, i.e., a unique event when an individual became the victim of a homicide or non-fatal shooting. Each row does not represent a unique victim—if someone is victimized multiple times there will be multiple rows for each of those distinct events.
The dataset is refreshed daily, but excludes the most recent complete day to allow the Chicago Police Department (CPD) time to gather the best available information. Each time the dataset is refreshed, records can change as CPD learns more about each victimization, especially those victimizations that are most recent. The data on the Mayor's Office Violence Reduction Dashboard is updated daily with an approximately 48-hour lag. As cases are passed from the initial reporting officer to the investigating detectives, some recorded data about incidents and victimizations may change once additional information arises. Regularly updated datasets on the City's public portal may change to reflect new or corrected information.
A version of this dataset with additional crime types is available by request. To make a request, please email <a href="mailto:dataportal@cityofchicago.org?subject=Violence Reduction Victims Access Request">dataportal@cityofchicago.org</a> with the subject line: <b>Violence Reduction Victims Access Request</b>. Access will require an account on this site, which you may create at https://data.cityofchicago.org/signup.
How does this dataset classify victims?
The methodology by which this dataset classifies victims of violent crime differs by victimization type:
Homicide and non-fatal shooting victims: A victimization is considered a homicide victimization or non-fatal shooting victimization depending on its presence in CPD's homicide victims data table or its shooting victims data table. A victimization is considered a homicide only if it is present in CPD's homicide data table, while a victimization is considered a non-fatal shooting only if it is present in CPD's shooting data tables and absent from CPD's homicide data table.
To determine the IUCR code of homicide and non-fatal shooting victimizations, we defer to the incident IUCR code available in CPD's Crimes, 2001-present dataset (available on the City's open data portal). If the IUCR code in CPD's Crimes dataset is inconsistent with the homicide/non-fatal shooting categorization, we defer to CPD's Victims dataset.
For a criminal homicide, the only sensible IUCR codes are 0110 (first-degree murder) or 0130 (second-degree murder). For a non-fatal shooting, a sensible IUCR code must signify a criminal sexual assault, a robbery, or, most commonly, an aggravated battery. In rare instances, the IUCR code in CPD's Crimes and Victims dataset do not align with the homicide/non-fatal shooting categorization:
- In instances where a homicide victimization does not correspond to an IUCR code 0110 or 0130, we set the IUCR code to "01XX" to indicate that the victimization was a homicide but we do not know whether it was a first-degree murder
Columns
| Name | Socrata field name | Column name in sgr mount | Data type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VICTIMIZATION_FBI_DESCR | victimization_fbi_descr | victimization_fbi_descr | Text | FBI Description connects a text description of the category to FBI Code. |
| LATITUDE | latitude | latitude | Number | The latitude of the victimization location. In order to preserve anonymity, the given coordinates are not the actual location of the crime. To produce slightly altered coordinates, a circle roughly the size of an average city block was drawn around the original point location, and a new location was picked randomly from a spot around the circumference of that circle. |
| ZIP_CODE | zip_code | zip_code | Text | ZIP code where the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021. |
| STATE_SENATE_DISTRICT | state_senate_district | state_senate_district | Text | Illinois State Senate Legislative Districts (SLDs) where the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021, represented by members elected to the Illinois State Senate. |
| HOMICIDE_VICTIM_LAST_NAME | homicide_victim_last_name | homicide_victim_last_name | Text | (For homicide victims only) Victim's last name. |
| LOCATION_DESCRIPTION | location_description | location_description | Text | Describes the location where a crime occurred, such as alley, sidewalk, etc. |
| STATE_HOUSE_DISTRICT | state_house_district | state_house_district | Text | Illinois House of Representatives Legislative District where the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021, represented by members elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. |
| VICTIMIZATION_IUCR_SECONDARY | victimization_iucr_secondary | victimization_iucr_secondary | Text | IUCR Secondary adds more description to the Primary category. |
| DATE | date | date | Calendar date | Date when the victimization occurred. This is sometimes a best estimate. |
| MONTH | month | month | Number | Month when the victimization occurred. |
| UPDATED | updated | updated | Calendar date | Records the most recent date the source table was updated. |
| HOUR | hour | hour | Number | Hour of the day when the victimization occurred. |
| HOMICIDE_VICTIM_FIRST_NAME | homicide_victim_first_name | homicide_victim_first_name | Text | (For homicide victims only) Victim's first name. |
| DISTRICT | district | district | Number | The current CPD district where the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021. Please refer to the City of Chicago’s Data Portal for a map of districts. |
| BLOCK | block | block | Text | The partially redacted address where the victimization occurred, placing it on the same block as the actual address. |
| INCIDENT_FBI_DESCR | incident_fbi_descr | incident_fbi_descr | Text | FBI Description connects a text description of the category to FBI Code, but only pertains to the most serious victimization in the incident. |
| AGE | age | age | Text | Age of the victims grouped by decade. |
| AREA | area | area | Number | The CPD area where the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021. There are 5 CPD areas. Each area includes 3-4 police districts. |
| VICTIMIZATION_PRIMARY | victimization_primary | victimization_primary | Text | Text description of the IUCR Code that describes the major crime category it falls into. VICTIMIZATION_PRIMARY represents only the crime that this specific victim within the incident experienced. In rare instances when we were not able to establish whether a non-fatal shooting victimization was an aggravated battery, robbery, or criminal sexual assault, we set this field equal to “NON-FATAL.” |
| LOCATION | location | location | Point | A slightly altered location of the victimization in a form that allows for mapping and other geographic analysis on this data portal. |
| HOMICIDE_VICTIM_MI | homicide_victim_mi | homicide_victim_mi | Text | (For homicide victims only) Victim's middle initial. |
| SEX | sex | sex | Text | Sex of the victims. Victimization demographic data shown here are captured by CPD and limited to information included in the police report, which may not often be supported by individual self-identification including for sex/gender. In particular, CPD has historically recorded a victim’s sex rather than gender although has added a field for collecting gender as of January 2021. |
| INCIDENT_FBI_CD | incident_fbi_cd | incident_fbi_cd | Text | Crime classification as outlined in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), but only pertains to the most serious victimization in the incident. See the Chicago Police Department listing of these classifications at http://gis.chicagopolice.org/clearmap_crime_sums/crime_type. |
| VICTIMIZATION_FBI_CD | victimization_fbi_cd | victimization_fbi_cd | Text | Crime classification as outlined in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR). See the Chicago Police Department listing of these classifications at http://gis.chicagopolice.org/clearmap_crime_sums/crime_type. |
| GUNSHOT_INJURY_I | gunshot_injury_i | gunshot_injury_i | Text | Indicator field describing whether or not a victim was injured by gunfire. Non-fatal shooting data is not available before 2010 so all non-homicide victimizations will be recorded as “UNKNOWN.” |
| BEAT | beat | beat | Text | The CPD beat where the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021. A beat is the smallest CPD geographic area. Each beat has a dedicated police beat car. Three to five beats make up a police sector, and three sectors make up a police district. The Chicago Police Department has 22 police districts. Please refer to the City of Chicago’s Data Portal for a map of beats. |
| LONGITUDE | longitude | longitude | Number | The longitude of the victimization location. This has been slightly altered to preserve anonymity. (see details under LATITUDE). |
| STREET_OUTREACH_ORGANIZATION | street_outreach_organization | street_outreach_organization | Text | Street outreach organization refers to organizations that actively work in “the streets” to engage individuals who are at immediate or high risk of being either victims or perpetrators of violence. Each organization has specific geographic boundaries where they focus their activities. This indicates which organization(s) is (are) currently active in the location where the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021, and may contain more than one organization as several outreach organizations’ boundaries overlap. |
| DAY_OF_WEEK | day_of_week | day_of_week | Number | Day of the week when the victimization occurred. Sunday=1 |
| RACE | race | race | Text | Crime classification as outlined in the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR). See the Chicago Police Department listing of these classifications at http://gis.chicagopolice.org/clearmap_crime_sums/crime_type. |
| INCIDENT_PRIMARY | incident_primary | incident_primary | Text | Text description of the IUCR Code that describes the major crime category it falls into. INCIDENT_PRIMARY represents the incident as a whole by conveying the most serious victimization according to IUCR hierarchy guidelines. In rare instances when we were not able to establish whether a non-fatal shooting victimization was an aggravated battery, robbery, or criminal sexual assault, we set this field equal to “NON-FATAL.” |
| Police Districts | :@computed_region_d9mm_jgwp | :@computed_region_d9mm_jgwp | Number | |
| Wards | :@computed_region_43wa_7qmu | :@computed_region_43wa_7qmu | Number | |
| UNIQUE_ID | unique_id | unique_id | Text | ID unique to each victimization. |
| WARD | ward | ward | Number | The City Council district in which the victimization occurred, using the boundaries in place as of 11/1/2021. Please refer to the city of Chicago’s Data Portal for a map of the 50 wards. |
| CASE_NUMBER | case_number | case_number | Text | The Chicago Police Department RD Number (Records Division Number), which is a unique ID assigned to each incident. Due to an incident sometimes involving multiple victimizations, this number is repeated in this dataset for some incidents. |
| VICTIMIZATION_IUCR_CD | victimization_iucr_cd | victimization_iucr_cd | Text | Based on the Illinois Uniform Crime Reporting code. This is directly linked to the Primary Type and Description. See the list of IUCR codes at https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/c7ck-438e. |
| INCIDENT_IUCR_CD | incident_iucr_cd | incident_iucr_cd | Text | The IUCR code that represents the most serious victimization experienced in this incident according to IUCR hierarchy guidelines. When we were not able to establish whether a homicide victimization was in the first or second degree, we set this field to “01XX.” When we were not able to establish whether a non-fatal shooting victimization was an aggravated battery, robbery, or criminal sexual assault, we set this field equal to “UNK.” |
| Boundaries - ZIP Codes | :@computed_region_rpca_8um6 | :@computed_region_rpca_8um6 | Number | |
| Community Areas | :@computed_region_vrxf_vc4k | :@computed_region_vrxf_vc4k | Number | |
| Police Beats | :@computed_region_d3ds_rm58 | :@computed_region_d3ds_rm58 | Number | |
| COMMUNITY_AREA | community_area | community_area | Text | The community area where the victimization occurred. Chicago has 77 community areas. See the full list of Chicago’s community areas at https://data.cityofchicago.org/d/cauq-8yn6. |
| INCIDENT_IUCR_SECONDARY | incident_iucr_secondary | incident_iucr_secondary | Text | Text description of the IUCR code that describes the sub category of the primary category. The column represents the incident as whole by conveying the most serious victimization according to IUCR hierarchy guidelines. |