Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is continuing to ensure the public that reducing violence is one of his top priorities.

Throughout the summer, in the face of a rising homicide rate, Emanuel and his police superintendent Garry McCarthy have held numerous press conferences to tell the public what they’re doing about murder.

There’s the Violence Reduction Initiative, the Violence Reduction Strategies, the gang audit, tearing down vacant buildings, closing problem liquor stores, focusing attention on recently released felons with gun convictions. Emanuel says the efforts have helped bring down crime numbers in the South Side Englewood neighborhood in the last couple months.

“I don’t think in my time, we would have ever said, in Englewood, it would be one of the parts of the city leading in the reduction of homicides in the city of a whole,” said Emanuel.

“So I said when we studied it and analyzed it, we’re going to now replicate that in other parts of the city.”

Emanuel says the murder stats aren’t just numbers, they’re people and families impacted by violence.