Police: Data shows overall crime down so far compared to 2014 in Elgin

If you've followed discussions about Elgin on Facebook the last couple of months, you might have noticed people talking about recent shootings and wondering about what seems to be an increase in violence.

But data from the Elgin Police Department shows crime in Elgin through the end of July is down compared to the same period last year.

The data shows overall serious crimes - including robberies, thefts, arson and sexual assaults - are down 15 percent from January thorough July compared to the same time frame last year. There was a 23 percent decrease in overall serious crime in July compared to July 2014.

There have been three murders in Elgin this year, one more than in the same time period last year. There have been 29 shootings compared to 28 in the first seven months of 2014.

What has changed is the amount and speed of information being shared on social media - both from residents and the police department, Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said, adding crime tends to increase in summer.

Rather than let rumors run rampant, police release information to the media and the public as quickly as possible, he said. "One of the best defenses against crime is to have informed citizens," Swoboda said.

Besides the additional murder, two other types of crimes have increased so far this year - assaults, defined as nonphysical such as when someone threatens someone else, which are up by 17 percent from 23 to 27, and batteries, which are up 30 percent from 47 to 61.

Data also shows that although the number of shootings through July is virtually unchanged from 2014, more people have been hit by gunfire this year, or 13 people compared to seven last year.

"A lot of these are inches away from being life and death, or inches away from being a shooting to an actual victim," Swoboda said. "Sometimes they are hitting their targets, sometimes not. It seems this year the intended targets are being hit more often."

Still, serious crime in Elgin has decreased dramatically in the last four decades and was at a 20-year low in 2014.

"I think it's clear that our strategies are working with all the things that we are doing, including with community engagement and keeping citizens informed," he said. "But we by no means think we have crime figured out and that crime is no longer here."

Swoboda also said police are investigating whether some of this year's shootings were self-inflicted, such as the case of a man who first reported being shot Sunday but that now police believe shot himself. Police put out a news release about the shooting, and later an update with the man's charges.

Police intend to continue proactively share information with the media and the public, Swoboda said.

"It's better to put out the basic stuff as quick as we can with as much as we have," he said. "People have a right to know what's going on in their police department."