Aurora police rank second in DUI arrests outside Chicago

Aurora police ranked second in Illinois last year for DUI arrests in municipalities outside Chicago, according to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists' annual survey released Thursday.

Aurora officers made 325 arrests in 2021, second only to the Decatur Police Department's 353, the report states.

For Aurora, the second-largest city in Illinois, it marked a 62.5% increase over its 2020 total of 200, according to AAIM, whose annual survey of 700 police agencies is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

DuPage County law enforcement agencies, including Lombard, Carol Stream, Elmhurst and Naperville, were among the others credited with the most arrests.

Lombard was third in the state, with 300 DUI arrests, followed by Elgin with 276, Franklin Park with 255, Bloomington with 252, Carol Stream with 250, Elmhurst with 235 and Naperville with 227.

"Progress has been made to help eliminate the devastation caused by impaired driving in Illinois. While frustratingly slow, many lives have been saved," AAIM Executive Director Rita Kreslin said in a prepared statement. "Focused efforts and cooperation of law enforcement agencies, traffic safety advocates, and communities have helped to prevent crashes and save thousands of lives."

According to the survey, Chicago Police Department DUI arrests decreased by 27.6% in 2021, with 1,622 arrests compared to 2,240 in 2020. Meanwhile, Illinois State Police arrests increased by 10.9% to 6,596 in 2021, up from 5,947 in 2020.

Among sheriff's departments, Winnebago County made the most DUI arrests in 2021 with 420, followed by 338 arrests by Lake County sheriff's police, 232 by the McHenry County sheriff's police, 218 by the Macon County sheriff's police and 179 by McLean County sheriff's police.