Naperville police report drop in most major crime categories in 2021

Naperville police officials unveiled statistics from 2021 indicating a drop in most major crime categories compared to 2020, especially with burglaries, vehicle thefts and armed robberies in the city.

Major crimes overall, not including identity theft, dropped from 1,726 in 2020 to 1,163 last year. Cases of identity theft remained high in 2021 at 1,395, but fell 34% from the previous year, a spike Police Chief Jason Arres partially attributed to unemployment fraud during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"These bursts that we have of crime give off this impression that crime is so far up in Naperville and it's so different than it used to be," Arres said. "It's just not the case."

Even with the decline in the number of major crimes, Arres said an even steeper drop could occur with due diligence by residents. While burglaries to vehicles fell by 52% in 2021 and vehicle thefts fell by 33%, Arres said many of those crimes occur because of unlocked cars with keys still inside.

Some major crime categories did not see a drop. There was one murder in 2021 - the same as 2019 and 2020 - while sexual assaults went up from 20 to 21 and cases of arson rose from one to two. There were 12 incidents of shots fired in Naperville compared to eight in 2020.

There have been two murders this year in Naperville. One was a murder-suicide and the other was a case where the suspect was caught.

Arres said while criminal activity remains a concern, Naperville's rates are lower than comparable benchmark cities such as Overland Park, Kansas; Boca Raton, Florida; and Fort Collins, Colorado.

"Context is so important," Arres said, adding it's important to look at rates in cities similar to Naperville.

Arres credited proactive policing with much of the drop in crime numbers. Traffic stops increased by 2,000 from 2020 to 2021, which he said helped lead to the seizure of 146 illegal guns compared to 82 in 2020.

"We will never be able to quantify what that work did, but I truly believe it has an effect," Arres said.