CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago police say there have been 22 percent fewer homicides in the city so far this year compared with the same period in 2012.

Police say so far this year there have been 31 homicides compared to 40 during the same time last year. That drop follows the last three months of 2012 when the number of homicides was 16 percent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2011.

The city's homicide rate made national headlines last year. The city ended 2012 with 506 homicides, the first time the total topped 500 since 2008 and a 16 percent increase from the 2011 total.