Major crimes down in St. Charles
The number of major crimes like homicide, robbery and sexual assault fell in St. Charles for the third consecutive year in 2011, according to a new report. But the number of less serious offenses such as trespassing, battery and disorderly conduct increased by nearly 600 cases, erasing almost all of the downturn the city saw in those crimes in 2010.
Police Chief Jim Lamkin said the report, overall, shows crime is under control in St. Charles.
“In these times of uncertainty for many things, it is good we have managed to keep the city of St. Charles safe for our residents and visitors,” Lamkin said in a written statement.
Most notably, the city had no homicide or attempted homicide cases in 2011. Criminal sexual assault reports were also down. Overall, there were 729 crimes in St. Charles in 2011 that ranked among the most serious. Thefts accounted for more than half that total at 462 instances.
But the crimes that rank in the city's classification of offenses as less serious accounted for the bulk of police activity in 2011. Motor vehicle offenses accounted for about one third of what the city deems Part II Crimes. There were 3,142 crimes that fell into that category in 2011. Criminal damage and trespass (337 cases), battery (273 cases) and disorderly conduct (213 cases) represented the most common specific crimes in that classification. That's up from 2,553 such cases in 2010 but still well below the recent high of 3,697 in 2007.
Police officials consider several crimes in the category, such as driving under the influence, drug offenses and prostitution, as crimes the police specifically look to crack down on their own rather than have reported to them.
When and where is crime the heaviest in St. Charles? Friday and Saturday are the busiest days for police in St. Charles, statistics show. More crime is committed between 3 and 4 p.m. than any other hour in the day. And the southwest quadrant of the city is by far the section officers are called dispatched to the most. While the call volume dropped in that quadrant in 2011, officers still responded to 5,482 calls there. None of the city's other three quadrants even tallied 3,800 calls for the whole year.
Major investigations conducted by St. Charles police included a rash of residential burglaries and attempted residential burglaries on the west side of the city in 2011. That investigation led to the arrest of two people. St. Charles and other towns in the immediate area also experienced a spike in armed robberies to fast food businesses and banks at the end of 2011. That investigation is ongoing, but police arrested eight people connected to five bank robberies, 18 restaurant robberies, two hotel robberies, several commercial burglaries, auto theft and a counterfeit money operation to date.
The report also shows 2011 was the first year since 2006 the city didn't see any fatal motor vehicle crashes, though crashes with injuries increased by 7 percent. The 600 block of South Randall Road saw more crashes than any other location in the city. The 100 block of West Main Street and the 2000 block of Lincoln Highway were the next two most perilous intersections in 2011.
Finally, the report shows the city's one red-light camera was busy in 2011, but not as busy as it could have been. The camera at the intersection of Main Street and Route 31 fueled 250 citations issued in 2011. However, police review rejected 129 additional possible citations as officers deemed vehicles made safe right turns on red even though the traffic movements still triggered the camera.