Elgin crime at 44-year low, with fewer shooting victims

Overall crime has decreased and is at a 44-year low in Elgin, which had fewer murders and shooting victims in 2016 compared to the previous year, police said.

However, there were more reports of shots fired in 2016 - 64 - than the 58 reported in 2015, according to annual crime data released Tuesday.

Police have stepped up their investigation of reports of shots fired - 37 on the east side and 27 on the west side - with longer and more meticulous neighborhood canvasses, often with the use of flashlights late into the night, Chief Jeff Swoboda said.

That has led to finding more evidence such as shell casings, which in turn can be linked - about one in four times - to prior shootings, he said.

"We're really trying to do a better job looking for any evidence that's there," he said. "Some of the same guns are being used over and over again."

There were nine shooting victims in 2016 compared to 21 in 2015, and two murders in 2016 compared to four in 2015.

The two murder victims last year were Norbert Gutierrez, 59, killed Nov. 13, and Timothy Jones, 18, killed Dec. 27. In both cases police apprehended suspects within hours.

Overall crime decreased by 3 percent last year, with a total of 1,807 compared to 1,854 in 2015 and 2,199 in 2014. The all-time high in Elgin, as per records kept by the Illinois State Police, was in 1989 with 4,905 crimes.

Violent crime remained pretty much steady, with 235 reports in 2016 compared to 238 in 2015.

"We look at this every two weeks and see if there are any trends we need to get on top of," Swoboda said.

There were 36 rapes and criminal sexual assaults last year, all of them involving known perpetrators, police said.

The number of batteries, robberies and assaults remained fairly steady, at 36, 62 and 89 respectively, which Swoboda said is a low number for a city like Elgin, with a population of about 112,000.

Among robberies, 8 percent involved a prearranged meeting or transaction, and 10 percent involved people who knew each other, Swoboda said.

Burglaries were down by 14 percent and vehicle burglaries - with more than half of owners admitting they left their vehicles unlocked - were up by 15 percent from 2015, which also was the lowest year on record for burglaries in Elgin.

Police last year expanded their neighborhood officer program from four to 10 officers who spend additional time in the areas they patrol, either before or after their shifts, to get to know people and establish relationships, Swoboda said.

Police also started a program in 2016 for drug users who are allowed to turn in their drugs at no risk of arrest as the department works to secure them treatment.

"It's a means to get those people who are struggling with addiction the help they need," Swoboda said. "A secondary benefit is if they get the help they need, they won't have to commit crimes to support their habit."

The biggest new initiative for 2017 is the rollout of body cameras, which begin with a group of about 30 officers in late February or early March and will be fully in use by the entire department by the end of the year.