Report: Suburban Cook County has more DUI, fewer drug cases than Chicago

For the second time in as many years, suburban Cook County DUI cases outnumbered Chicago cases.

According to a Cook County state's attorney report issued Friday, prosecutors charged 848 DUI cases in the suburbs compared with 674 in the city during 2017.

But the tables turned when it came to narcotics cases, which in 2017 were "the largest single category of felony cases initiated in Cook County," according to the report of cases initiated in the criminal, narcotics and special prosecution divisions.

Of the 33,544 drug-related cases charged in 2017 by Cook County prosecutors and by Cook County police departments, 11,888 came from the suburbs and 21,656 came from Chicago, according to the report.

In the suburbs - where judicial districts include Rolling Meadows, Skokie, Bridgeview, Markham and Maywood - unlawful use of a weapon topped the list of 2017 felony charges followed by DUI, burglary and retail theft, according to the report.

Cook County has 5.2 million people, according to the report. Of those, 2.5 million live in the suburbs.

While the suburbs had more aggravated battery of a police officer cases - 362 compared to 267 in the city - Chicago led in all other categories. That includes unlawful use of a weapon, where the city's 3,629 cases dwarfed the 950 cases initiated in the suburbs last year.

Homicide and attempted homicide were among the least charged offenses. Of the 455 homicide cases initiated in Cook County last year, 295 came from the city, compared to 160 from the suburbs.

Countywide, burglary cases numbered 1,623, with 763 from the suburbs and 860 from the city. Of the 1,279 robbery, armed robbery and aggravated robbery cases charged last year, 893 came from the city and 386 came from the suburbs.

The suburbs were on par with Chicago in cases of battery, aggravated battery and domestic battery. According to the report, the suburbs had 522 such cases compared to the city's 526.