Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling announced Friday that carjackings across the city dropped 15 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period last year, crediting a combination of new investigative technology, community partnerships, and targeted enforcement in high-incident corridors.
The department recorded 412 carjacking incidents between January 1 and March 20, down from 487 during the same window in 2025. The West Side districts—where carjackings had surged dramatically in recent years—saw the steepest decline at 22 percent.
Snelling pointed to expanded use of automated license plate reader cameras, real-time crime center coordination, and carjacking-specific task forces as contributing factors. The city also launched a community violence intervention program in six high-incident neighborhoods in January.
Critics including the ACLU of Illinois cautioned that one quarter of data does not establish a trend and raised ongoing concerns about surveillance technology use and civil liberties. The department plans to release full Q1 crime statistics in April.
