 "All of law enforcement must remain diligent in its responsibility
of keeping our communities safe," said Illinois State Police
Director Larry G. Trent. "Our goal continues to be a significant
decrease in all of the reported offenses. The achievement of this
goal requires constant evaluation and analysis of intelligence data
regarding crime patterns. Intelligence-led public safety allows law
enforcement to direct their limited resources in a unified manner to
decrease crime."Law enforcement agencies throughout the state
reported a total of 467,372 indexed crimes occurred last year,
compared with 475,497 in 2005. The crime rate was down in six
categories:
-
Criminal sexual
assault decreased 6.6 percent.
-
Motor vehicle theft
decreased for the seventh consecutive year, with a decrease of
4.7 percent.
-
Arson decreased 3.6
percent.
-
Aggravated assault
and battery decreased by 3.4 percent.
-
Theft and burglary
also showed decreases.
-
For the first time in
five years, the number of reported murders increased slightly,
and robbery increased for the second consecutive year, by 1.9
percent.
The following is a breakdown of crime rates for areas throughout
the state.
Offenses (all crimes):
-
Chicago, down 1.7
percent
-
Downstate, down 2
percent
-
Cook County, down 1.7
percent
-
Suburban Cook County,
down 1.4 percent
-
Collar counties, down
3.3 percent
-
Urban counties, down
1.7 percent
-
Rural counties, down
1.5 percent
"As pleased as I am at the overall decrease in the crime rate,
the Illinois State Police is committed to continuing to work with
local law enforcement to protect the lives and property of the
citizens of Illinois," said Trent. "Improvements in communication
technology have led to better information sharing and proactive
policing among departments. In September 2006, Governor Blagojevich
announced the creation of a mutual aid program that will train 911
operators to handle the huge volume of emergency calls that come in
during natural disasters and terrorism events, and then deploy those
operators to areas in Illinois when they are needed."
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In addition, improvements in the field of forensic science continue
to aid law enforcement in solving crimes in communities. A new
Springfield Combined Laboratory addition, unveiled by Blagojevich in
September 2006 and scheduled for completion in January 2008, will
expand capabilities to serve vital homeland security and public
safety functions. The state-of-the-art facility will allow the
Illinois State Police to provide forensic services to 300 law
enforcement agencies in 33 central Illinois counties. Additionally,
the governor has proposed $33.5 million in his capital bill for the
construction of a new Metro-East Forensic Lab in Belleville.
"The Illinois State Police is devoted to dedicating the resources
necessary to continue the decrease in the crime rate we have seen
the last few years," said Trent. "The governor has given law
enforcement the tools we need to combat crime and the criminals who
choose to act in that manner."
Blagojevich challenged emergency responders to respond to
large-scale emergencies with three major exercises from May to
August 2006. The exercises were designed to test the state's ability
to respond to critical incidents, including an influenza pandemic, a
terrorist attack involving weapons of mass destruction and a nuclear
power plant accident. The exercises were also designed to train top
officials and first responders to develop a strategic response. The
governor praised the state's performance in the large-scale
exercises, saying the state's commitment to preparedness, training
and development of special response capabilities enabled Illinois to
successfully tackle the challenging scenarios.
Additionally, law enforcement officials are becoming much more
familiar with the capabilities of the Statewide Terrorism
Intelligence Center, which is manned 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. The state's homeland security efforts have changed from not
only focusing on response capabilities, but also including terrorism
prevention. Analysts at the center receive, analyze and distribute
intelligence received from local, state and federal levels. To
further improve the flow of information between state and federal
sources, FBI analysts are now working with state analysts at the
center.
Crime statistics are available at
http://www.isp.state.il.us/crime/cii2006.cfm.
[Text from
Illinois State Police news release received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information]
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