How has coronavirus social distancing affected crime in southern Illinois?
Illinois workers aren’t the only ones observing Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “shelter-in-place” order and social distancing guidelines.
It looks like metro-east criminals are, too.
Some local law enforcement agencies have reported a reduction in their calls for service since Pritzker’s order told citizens they can only leave their homes for essential trips in order to stem the spread of coronavirus. According to police department spokespeople, most Illinoisans are abiding by the order.
“Overall, we have seen a reduction in calls for service, reports and arrests since the shelter-in-place order was issued,” said O’Fallon Police Capt. David Matevey. “Obviously those statistics can change very quickly should there be a change in how citizens are responding to the crisis.”
Collinsville and Edwardsville police departments also noticed a change.
“It does seem to appear that with less people out and moving about, we have seen a drop in some of our calls of service,” said Collinsville Assistant Chief Brett Boerm.
Domestic disturbances
Other departments, like Washington Park and Swansea, however, said the rate of crime has not changed much.
“It’s pretty much about the same,” Washington Park Police Chief Allen Bonds said of the volume of calls, noting that his department had seen a small uptick in domestic disturbance calls.
“I don’t know if that’s because of the order, but it’s not an overwhelming number,” he said. “They’re up just a slight bit.”
Swansea Police Chief Steve Johnson said his department expects an increase in domestic disturbances because the governor’s order keeps people in close quarters. As of this week, that uptick has yet to show itself.
In St. Clair County, Capt. Bruce Fleshren said the number of domestic disturbance calls has stayed at its average five to 10 a week.
With schools, day care centers and preschools around Illinois shut down in an effort to contain coronavirus, calls to the Department of Children and Family Services’ abuse and neglect hotline have dropped dramatically.
As such, crime experts have predicted that spousal and child abuse rates will climb during the pandemic.
Edwardsville Police Major Mike Phillback asked the public to be mindful of the times they’re living in.
“Just to remind everybody to do as much as they can to be patient with one another,” he said. “We’re not used to being trapped in a house with one another ... Our expectation is that we’re all going to get through this doing those little things that we can.”
Illinois State Police Sgt. Christopher “Joey” Watson said it’s hard to know yet which crimes will see an increase or decrease in the area.
“It is still very early in the pandemic to be looking for trends,” he said.
Traffic
With many people working from home and limiting their trips out, the roads have been clearer too, making for a reduced amount of traffic stops as well.
“The citizens of St. Clair County are taking this very seriously,” Sheriff Rick Watson said during a live stream Wednesday with the St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency. “When I drive throughout the county, I see limited travel and that’s a good thing.”
On the interstate, the number of traffic stops is down dramatically, Illinois State Police District 11 in Collinsville reported.
During the week of March 13 to 24 in 2019, the district made a total of 753 traffic stops, Watson said. For the same week in 2020, however, that number was down to just 58.
Changing approaches
In light of the pandemic and the rapidly growing number of cases in the region, metro-east police departments have had to alter some of their daily practices to protect officers and the public.
That includes taking reports over the phone for non-violent or not-in-progress offenses, departments like Belleville, Collinsville and O’Fallon said.
“The only change in the reporting procedure is the elimination of in person contact between the officer and the complainant,” the Belleville Police Department wrote in a social media post Wednesday. “An officer may, depending on the circumstances, respond to the scene to obtain photographs, etc., but you will not need to interact with the officer because the information for the report has already been relayed.”
Departments are trying to adhere to social distancing policies as best as they can. This means officers may have to meet with people in open-air environments, wear personal protective equipment like masks and gloves, and choose not to enter residences unless there is an emergency.
“Cops have always been the master at social distancing because time and distance are our friends for keeping officers safe, but now it is reinforced even more,” Swansea Chief Johnson said.
Though arrests will still be made when necessary, departments are also giving their officers more discretion on when to take people into custody.
“A lot of lower level crimes are kind of given a more lenient approach,” Bonds, the Washington Park police chief, said.
This means someone may still be charged with a crime, but expect an extended court date or a lower bond.
At the St. Clair County Jail, Fleshren said departments are actively avoiding bringing non-violent offenders in.
“We are trying to be cognizant of not bringing people into the jail if we don’t have to and certainly not if they have any symptoms of coronavirus,” he said.
One of the options departments have is to give an offender a “notice to appear,” Fleshren said. This means a charge is still issued but the person is not required to remain in custody.
Fleshren said that the department also has cease-and-desist orders ready to issue if a non-essential business does not comply with the governor’s executive order, but that they hadn’t encountered any problems of that sort yet.
Only Collinsville Assistant Chief Brett Boerm said his department had to tell a business to stop operating over the weekend.
Also included in Pritzker’s order, as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, is a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people.
Police had to split up a church service in Washington Park, Bonds said, but other than that he’d noticed citizens were abiding by the guidelines.
Law enforcement agencies will continue to do their jobs as always despite these unprecedented times, departments emphasized. Even if they have to take different measures, public safety is their No. 1 priority.
“We are trying to do this like everyone else ... the best we can in this great unknown,” Fleshren said.
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