County crime rates down in ’08
By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@nwherald.com
Rates for serious crimes fell overall by 3.1 percent in McHenry County last year, despite increases in many jurisdictions of burglary and theft.
The statistics, released Tuesday by the Illinois State Police, show the collar counties faring better than the statewide drop of 1.3 percent between 2007 and 2008. The annual index tracks eight crimes: murder, criminal sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.
Although McHenry County’s total reported burglaries and thefts fell in 2008, 15 of its 26 municipal police departments and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office reported increases in one or both. State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi said such increases were to be expected during hard economic times, especially shoplifting and passing bad checks.
But Sheriff Keith Nygren said people should not examine increases in crime rates based on one factor.
“Often times, there is a correlation between retail theft and the economy,” Nygren said. “Certainly that would be one of the things you would want to look at, but it’s hard to attribute one thing and say that’s what caused the skew.”
The county’s crime rate stayed steady or dropped in seven of the eight categories, except for a 2.6 percent increase in motor vehicle theft – the 155 reported in 2008 was four more than the previous year.
McHenry County’s drop in 2008 is even with the collar counties’ average 3.3 percent decrease. However, Cook County’s crime index rose 2.4 percent in 2008, with Chicago’s increasing by 3.2 percent.
While the overall crime index fell 1.3 percent statewide, murder and robbery increased 3 percent and burglary increased 4.3 percent. Arson statewide dropped almost 10 percent, the largest decrease for any indexed crime over the past five years, according to the state police.
McHenry County’s small increase in vehicle theft surprised Bianchi, he said, because of increasingly sophisticated automobile theft prevention systems. Statistics released this month by the FBI concluded that auto theft nationwide hit a 20-year low in 2008. The largest statistically-significant increase in McHenry County motor vehicle theft was in Woodstock, which reported an increase from 3 in 2007 to 17 in 2008.
Increases in burglary and theft almost tripled the crime index in Richmond, from 17 reported crimes in 2007 to 66 last year. Burglary increased from 3 in 2007 to 20 last year, and theft increased from 13 to 34 during the same time period. Burglary and theft doubled the crime rate in Island Lake as well.
But Richmond Police Chief John Fryksdale questioned whether there was an increase in burglary and theft or simply an increase of residents reporting it. He said his department in the two years he has led it had engaged in active community outreach.
“We’ve been encouraging people to let us know so that we’re more cognizant of things happening,” Fryksdale said. “I don’t think it’s a rash of crime.”
Crystal Lake’s total crime index dropped 14 percent in 2008, the most of McHenry County’s cities with 20,000 or more people. Deputy Chief Dennis Harris called the decline a positive trend that the city had repeated from previous years, but he cautioned that changing demographics and other factors play roles along with law enforcement.
One troubling statistic that Harris said the department would examine was an increase in sexual assault cases in Crystal Lake – seven were reported in 2008 compared to one in 2007.
“It’s something we want to take a much closer look at, to see why there’s so dramatic a change,” Harris said.
Nygren said that such increases can be attributed in part to people being more willing to report them.
“We’re removing the stigma that used to exist from some of those crimes, and more people are coming forward,” Nygren said. “It’s kind of like a Catch-22, but it’s a good thing.”
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