Despite horrific crime scenes like the deadly mass shooting in River North last week, violent crime is down in Chicago compared to last year.

Data tracked by CBS News Chicago shows aggravated assaults, aggravated batteries, arsons, burglaries, motor vehicle thefts, robberies, and homicides so far in 2025 are all down significantly compared to the same point in 2024.

Homicides are down more than 30%, aggravated assaults are down 16%, aggravated batteries are down 15%, arsons are down 26%, burglaries are down 21%, motor vehicle thefts are down 28%, and robberies are down 34%.

"It's a great sign that crime is going down. Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do," Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said.

Asked what technology Chicago police have been using that has helped bring crime down, Snelling said the new Crime Gun Intelligence Center – launched in the Spring of 2024 – has helped police coordinate with federal, state, and other local law enforcement, and make a big impact on crime.

"The CGIC center is something that's pretty new," Snelling said.

The center brings together Chicago police, Cook County prosecutors, Cook County Sheriff's deputies, ATF agents, federal prosecutors, Homeland Security investigators, FBI agents, DEA agents, the U.S. Secret Service, Illinois State Police, and a handful of other agencies under one roof to help process evidence – including ballistics and DNA – and get results back faster than ever.

"The difference in time could be multiple months, even up to a year," Snelling said.

When it comes to homicides, the drop so far this year has Chicago with the fewest homicides through the end of June than at any point in the past decade. Of those 191 people killed, police have made 44 arrests related to their cases.

Robberies also have reached a 10-year low in Chicago so far this year.

While there remains a feeling among some in Chicago that crime is not down, Snelling said "messaging is the key" to bridging the gap between perception and reality.

"If people don't feel safe, then in their minds they aren't safe. So we have to work on that perception to let people know that we're out there, we're out there to make sure that they're safe, and that we're working across the board, especially with them also to make sure that the city is safe," he said.

Making people feel safe with fewer officers on the street is a challenge. While there are currently almost 12,000 sworn police officers on the force, about 200 more than two years ago, Snelling said CPD has thousands fewer officers than around 10 years ago.

"But we're making the best of what we have, and this is why we are utilizing all of our partners. We're working across borders, we're working with our federal agencies to help reduce violent crime, and we're a lot more strategic about how we deploy our resources," he said.

Overtime sometimes helps make up the difference. CPD has spent less on overtime this year than last. Snelling hopes the latest crime data stays on the same downward track.

"What we have a tendency to do a times is focus on the negative. I want our officers to focus on the positive," he said.

Chicago's drop in crime comes even in the face of a mass shooting last week at a restaurant and lounge in the River North neighborhood, which left four people dead and 14 others wounded. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.

"When someone shows up to a large gathering and opens fire on a crowd, they're not necessarily looking to open fire on that particular crowd. There may be someone within that crowd that they're looking for, but they really don't care about the other people who are there. So all you need in a large gathering is one person that someone is looking to harm," Snelling said.

While police are worried about possible retaliation, Snelling said investigators don't believe the restaurant where the shooting happened was specifically targeted.

"There's always a concern about retaliation. We're not concerned about the retaliation at that location. That location was something where it was a venue that was rented out. So the retaliation, if there is any, we wouldn't see at that location, because they were down there for a gathering, one-time thing, and that's not a location that's frequented by the individuals who were part of that," Snelling said.