Check the list with homicides/100K- Chicago isn't even on it and they had more than ANY city shown.
Rate of incidence doesn't show the presence of the incidents in the specific areas where they occur. Of course, homicide isn't equally distributed over the Chicago area- as it is in MKE, it occurs more frequently in some areas but it's spreading. MKE population is 20% of Chicago's, yet homicide rate is higher than Chicago (slightly).
The need for help isn't based on rates/100K, it's the number of people causing problems in an area- Chicago is much larger than many other cities, so it's harder to handle ALL crimes, which is partially shown in the size of the Police departments and number of officers or lack of, as shown in Milwaukee.
Stats and polls can show what someone wants. Look at maps for the cities, to see where specific crimes occur and the frequency. Other factors are involved, though such as 'Who is being targeted?', 'Do the victims and perpetrators know each other?', 'Do the crimes cross racial lines?', 'Which crimes are targeted vs random?', etc.
Many people in the MKE area avoid specific areas at night because of the rate of incidence vs time of day. It's not worth the risk, anymore- used to be that crime was more frequent in a much smaller area, but now, it has spread outside of the city, into the surrounding areas.