Naperville police topped suburbs in DUI arrests last year, survey says

Naperville police arrested more people for driving under the influence in 2020 than any other suburb, an advocacy group reported Thursday.

The Elgin, Carol Stream, Waukegan, Lombard and Aurora police departments made the top 10 for municipal departments statewide, the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists said in its 2020 DUI Survey.

Chicago was exempted from the list because of its size, the Schaumburg-based group said.

Nearly 700 police agencies were surveyed for the survey, and the group had a 77% response rate.

The Decatur Police Department ranked first among municipal departments with 344 arrests.

Naperville was fourth statewide with 242 arrests.

Elgin was fifth with 233 arrests, followed by Carol Stream with 224, Waukegan with 222 and Lombard with 220 arrests. Aurora was 11th with 200 arrests.

Chicago police recorded 2,240 drunken-driving arrests in 2020, the group said.

Lake County topped the list of sheriff's departments with 310 arrests.

The organization also measured average DUI arrests per officer, in departments recording at least 200 such arrests. Carol Stream ranked first with a 3.8 average, followed by Lombard with 3.49. Also in the top 10 were Waukegan (1.56), Naperville (1.40) and Elgin (1.27).

The alliance formed in 1982 and has conducted a survey of DUI arrests annually since 1990.

"Impaired driving is a choice and the aftermath can be avoided by simply choosing not to drive impaired," said the group's executive director, Rita Kreslin, in the news release.

More information can be found at aaim1.org.