Crime rate continues downward trend in 2015

Feb. 1, 2016 – Oak Park’s crime rate continued to decline in 2015, an overall trend that has been underway with only a few exceptions for several decades, according to data compiled by the Police Department under the state’s Uniform Crime Reporting Index.

Police investigated 1,568 crimes in 2015, down 6 percent from the 1,665 crimes reported in 2014 and far below Oak Park’s crime rates in the 1980s and 1990s that often were nearly double last year’s rate.

Police Chief Rick C. Tanksley credited the combination of an engaged citizenry and professional, dedicated officers with playing a significant role in the continued decline in the local crime rate.

“The continued decline in the overall crime rate reflects the importance of residents and law enforcement working together,” he said. “But we still have to keep in mind that we live in an urban environment where a single incident can cause citizens to question their safety. It is at these times that police and the community must draw even closer together by sharing timely information, looking out for one another and remaining strong in the belief that we can continue to make this community even safer than the data demonstrates.”

Burglaries and thefts continued to represent the vast majority of all crimes committed in Oak Park in 2015. These two categories alone comprised nearly 90 percent of all 2014 crimes, with garages as burglars’ most frequent targets, Police say.

The 65 robberies reported in 2015 — down from the 83 reported in 2014 — were the lowest number of robberies since 1972, the earliest year for which comparable data are available.

Increases occurred in three of the eight crime categories compiled. The 21 assault/battery reports in 2015 compared to 15 in 2014; six criminal sexual assaults in 2015 compared to five in 2014; and 92 motor vehicle thefts in 2015 compared to 75 in 2014.

Police made 164 arrests in 2015 compared to 155 in 2014. Nearly 80 percent of the arrests were for burglaries and thefts.

Summary of crime in Oak Park during 2015

• Thefts, typically crimes of opportunity, remained the single largest category of crimes reported in Oak Park. Some 1,043 thefts were reported in 2015, compared to 1,088 in 2014, a 4-percent decrease.
   
• Burglary continued to be the second largest single crime category, with 337 cases reported in 2015, compared to 395 in 2014. In nearly half of the residential burglaries and nearly three-quarters of the garage burglaries entry was via an unlocked door or window.
   
• Robberies, a crime police say often affects the public’s perception of safety, continued a downward trend evident over the past several years. Police investigated 65 robberies in 2015, compared to 83 in 2014, 85 in 2013 and 99 in 2012.
   
• No homicides occurred in 2015. A homicide has not occurred in Oak Park since 2012.
   
• Six criminal sexual assaults were reported in 2015, compared to five in 2014. In five of the 2015 cases, the victim knew the offender. An evidence-based arrest was made in the sixth case.
   
• Twenty-one aggravated assault/battery cases were reported in 2015, compared to 15 in 2014. In many of these cases, victims knew their offenders. Other cases involved police officers, hospital emergency workers, traffic altercations and patrons on a train and at a gas station.
   
• Four arsons were reported in 2015, the same as in 2014. None were significant.
   
• Police responded to 34,529 calls for service in 2015, compared to 32,651 in 2014.

For more information on Oak Park’s community policing programs, visit www.oak-park.us/police.