Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

The reports are out: Did crime decline or go up where you live?

Murders, burglaries, robberies increase in some local counties

Crime was down in 2008 compared with 2007 in Illinois, as well as in Madison, St. Clair, Bond and Monroe counties, according to the Illinois State Police.

State police on Tuesday released their "Crime in Illinois" report, which tracks eight specific crime categories and compares them with the previous year.

The crimes tracked are murders, sexual assaults, robbery, aggravated assault or battery, burglary, theft, car theft and arson.

The state's overall crime rate was down 1.3 percent in 2008, with the biggest decreases in arson reports. Murders and robberies were each up by more than 3 percent, and burglaries were up 4.3 percent.

In Madison County, there were 15 murders in 2008 compared with 10 the year before. However, the county's crime rate dropped 10.5 percent from one year to the next.

"That's good news," said Madison County Sheriff Robert Hertz, who credited the county's multiple police forces with helping to lower the crime rate. "We're identifying the violators, we're putting them in jail. ... I think law enforcement deserves a pat on the back for this."

St. Clair County saw a 4.6 percent drop in the total crime rate.

The county also saw a drop in murders, deviating from the rest of the state. Illinois, overall, experienced a 3 percent increase in murder.

"The increase in homicides in Illinois has all law enforcement agencies troubled as we work to reduce this phenomenon," Illinois State Police Director Jonathan Monken said. "The Illinois State Police is currently involved in several initiatives to reverse this trend."

St. Clair County recorded 35 murders in 2008 compared with 46 in 2007. However, more arrests for murders were made in 2008 than in 2007. In 2008, police arrested 15 people in connection with murders in the county. In 2007, only 9 were arrested.

East St. Louis accounted for much of the drop, with 16 murders in 2008 compared with 30 the year before.

One of the initiatives proposed by the Illinois State Police to combat crime in the state is the East St. Louis Violence Crime Suppression Initiative. The initiative combines federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to target gun violence in the East St. Louis area.

A significant decrease in auto theft played a role in reducing the total crime rate in St. Clair County. In 2007, there were 1,347 auto thefts. That number fell by 15.7 percent to 1,136 car thefts in 2008.

The only two crime categories that increased in St. Clair County between 2007 and 2008 were burglary and criminal sexual assault. Burglary rose 1.6 percent, from 2,434 cases in 2007 to 2,473 cases in 2008. Criminal sexual assault went up 3.3 percent in the county, increasing from 182 incidents in 2007 to 188 cases in 2008.

Bond County saw a 16.3 percent drop in crime. Monroe County's rate dropped 6.7 percent.

Crime was up 31.9 percent in Clinton and 21.8 percent in Randolph County. Most of Clinton County's increase was theft, 489 of them last year -- but sexual assaults also showed an increase from 5 to 12.