Cook County has topped 1,000 homicides for the first time since 1994. 

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office found that just under 23% of homicides occurred in suburban Cook County.

In the suburbs, Harvey has seen the highest total of homicides with 30, followed by Maywood with 16 and Dolton with 11.

“There’s a perception that Harvey isn’t a safe place to be or a safe place to live—and that’s not the response that I’m getting from residents,” said Harvey Mayor Christopher Clark. “The response that I get from residents are basically that many of these homicides and these crimes are happening by people who live outside of the community, coming into the community.”

Clark also pointed to a lack of resources as to why Harvey’s homicide numbers are higher than other suburbs. For example, he said, 40 police and fire department employees were laid off in 2018 due to pension issues. He said since that cut, the departments have not been able to recover significantly enough.

“It’s a bit of a challenge,” Clark said. “But the one thing that I can guarantee you is that the city of Harvey and its people are very tenacious and we get through these issues.”