Last year was one of the deadliest in the city in decades, with 775 killed, a sharp spike from the 500 homicides in 2019. In a press release Thursday summarizing the year so far, the Chicago Police Department emphasized a drop in violence this past May and June, bolstering their argument that the rate of increase from last year is slowing. Both months saw a drop in shootings and homicides, according to Sun-Times data, though they were still much higher than in 2019. The department said its data also shows there have been fewer murders this year than last year, but those numbers do not count killings on expressways that are investigated by the Illinois State Police. The department’s numbers also do not include police-involved homicides.