Violent crime in Elgin drops 5 percent in '08

Serious and violent crime in Elgin in 2008 dropped more than 5 percent from the previous year, although the overall number of crimes remained constant, according to figures released Friday.

"It's a direct reflection on some of the work we've been doing, particularly our hot spot enforcement, targeting those areas that have had rising issues," said Police Chief Lisa Womack, who noted crime dipped in the second half of 2008. "I'm always expecting it to be down dramatically, but yes I was absolutely thrilled."

Overall, police responded to 2,693 serious crimes, which include murder, robbery, assault, sex crimes, and thefts to and of motor vehicles.

In 2007, there were 2,845 serious crimes.

Some areas did see an increase: 2008 saw three homicides compared to two in 2007. Also, thefts to vehicles for items like GPS devices and other electronics were up 15 percent, but theft and motor vehicle thefts fell 15 and 24 percent, respectively.

Last year, police made 171 gang related arrests, well more than twice the 75 arrests in 2007.

"That can be attributed to the hard work of (specialty) units and patrol. I'm happy to see some positive results there," Womack said. "Through targeted efforts, we have obviously increased our suppression efforts. We would like to hope there are fewer kids joining gangs but it's just impossible to measure that."

Mayor Ed Schock said he was pleased with the report.

"You have to look at the while picture. Overall, we've had steady improvement in our crime statistics," he said. "It's a testament to our police force. It's a communitywide effort."

While some areas dropped compared to 2007, others increased, especially gang-related crimes.

Last year, police recovered 18 guns in gang-related arrests, a 50 percent jump from the 12 firearms recovered in gang arrests in 2007.

However, from 2004 through 2006, the average number of guns recovered was 25 a year.

Gang shootings in 2008 stood at 37, up more 50 percent from the 24 in 2007 and more than double the 16 shootings in 2006. Still, in 2004, there were 54 shootings.

"The only acceptable number of those would be zero," Deputy Chief Jeff Swoboda said.