Sometimes a little perspective is in order.
This magazine posted a story in late September remarking upon what seemed to be a sharp uptick in crime in the Fox Valley during the month, much of which related to Naperville. Apparently, that uptick was noticed by a lot of people, because it prompted an interesting post from Naperville Interim Chief of Police Jason Arres on NPD’s Facebook page.
Here is the Chief’s post in its entirety:
The police department has been asked a lot of questions and seen a lot of commentary about crime in Naperville lately. It’s no secret that we’ve had a busy couple weeks: three robberies, a jewelry store burglary, the discharge of a firearm, and a bomb threat, among other calls for service. We understand that ANY crime is concerning, but we’d like to present some data to answer questions we’ve received about whether crime rates are exceeding previous years.
We compiled Jan. 1 through Sept. 28 statistics for the last six years to analyze how several crime categories are trending this year compared to previous years. As you can see in the graph provided, reported burglaries, robberies, aggravated assaults/batteries, burglaries to motor vehicles and motor vehicle thefts are actually down year-to-date.
Please understand that this is not to minimize the seriousness of any of the crimes committed. Again, we understand that ANY crime is concerning, but it is important to look at the data for a complete picture. Naperville is a safe city. It’s just not a crime-free city.
In recent years, we’ve made a concerted effort to increase transparency in order to educate our residents. We know that residents who are aware of the types of crimes being committed in our town are more likely to practice situational awareness, remain vigilant, report suspicious activity and take proactive steps to prevent crime. Please use this information to do just that.
• Secure your belongings. This will make our community less of a target for criminal acts.
• Be aware of your surroundings. This will make you more alert to suspicious activities and reduce your likelihood of victimization.
• Finally, be a good witness. If you see something, say something.
We will continue to remain committed to proactive policing in an effort to deter crime, provide swift and effective response to in-progress incidents, and thoroughly investigate crimes committed with the goal of catching those responsible and holding them accountable.
All in all, the data seems to support the Chief’s contention – that the recent rash of incidents is not indicative of a larger wave, but rather a blip that, when looked at in terms of multi-year trends, fades to near meaninglessness.
What struck us, however, was the selection of crimes used in the analysis. Only two categories – Aggravated Assault/Battery and Robbery – represents a violent crime. And this category is, happily, at a 5-year low. But given the level of shooting incidents around the Fox Valley (Elgin, for instance, is roughly on target to match its all-time high of gunfire incidents, set in 2016), we were interested in how the more violent crime categories fared in such an analysis. We will look at those in a report next week, which will cover the entirety of the Fox Valley.
Note: This is the first in a series of reports looking at crime in the Fox Valley.
