“rash of muggings and beatings that have gone unreported”
Excellent point—crime statistics are way below the reality on the street.
They are best used for measuring trends.
The news doesn’t come close to reporting the actual situation on the street. Sites like cwbchicago and the “Chicago Scanner” and “16th and 17th District Chicago Police Scanner” twitter feeds (no need to have an account, you can read them online) give a better sense of what’s going on, especially for carjackings, street crime, and crime on the transit system.
Also look at the headlines on the Crain’s Chicago Business site (chicagobusiness.com) for additional economic pieces of the puzzle.