Suburbs again rate high in DUI arrest rankings

Police departments from the West and Northwest suburbs again ranked high on drunken-driver arrests last year, according to an annual report by the Schaumburg-based American Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists - with nine of the top 20 arresting departments hailing from the region.

Naperville ranked second on the AAIM list with 683 arrests, followed by Carol Stream at No. 3 with 527 and Buffalo Grove at No. 4 with 501.

With 715 arrests, the Rockford Police Department ranked highest.

Other top arresting departments included Hanover Park (9), Mundelein (11), Hoffman Estates (12), Bartlett (15), Elgin (18) and Carpentersville (29).

The towns show up differently on the AAIM list when ranked by arrest rate per officer. Here, Itasca ranked second in the state with a rate of 10.96 arrests per 23 sworn officers on its department, with area suburbs nearly rounding out the remainder of the Top 10 - Carol Stream (rate of 9.79 arrests per officer); Buffalo Grove (8.64); Hanover Park (7.06); Rolling Meadows (6.98); Mundelein (6.51); and Lake Zurich (6.24).

The AAIM report notes that the high rates of arrests in DuPage and Lake county communities follow a familiar pattern, and the organization praises enforcement there.

"More DUI arrests in the DuPage and Lake counties don't necessarily mean there are more drunk drivers in those regions than in the rest of the state," said Executive Director Charlene Chapman in a prepared statement. "It does indicate a more active enforcement effort targeting DUI by those departments compared to other departments."

Also in the Top 20 according to arrest rate were Bartlett (5.92), Villa Park (5.92), Roselle (5.78) and Bloomingdale (5.02)

Chicago, which is rated separately because of its size, increased its arrests to 6,257 from 5,970 in 2006.