Crime up in Sauk Valley: Burglaries, thefts rose in ’08; trend continuing in ’09
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Burglaries and robberies are on the rise in Illinois, according to the recently released 2008 Illinois State Police crime report.
That comes as no surprise to law officers in the Sauk Valley, who have seen a huge jump in theft and in vehicle and residential break-ins this year as well.
“Overall, the increase really could be attributed to the economy,” Dixon Police Chief Dan Langloss said. “More people are having to find other ways to get money. I think that’s evidenced by the recent spree of burglaries.”
The ISP’s yearly report uses statistics complied from nearly every law enforcement agency in the state. Crimes are broken into eight categories – murder, criminal sexual assault, burglary, theft, vehicle theft, aggravated battery/assault, and arson.
Statewide, the number of crimes decreased by less than one percent. Burglaries rose 4.3 percent and murder and robbery both increased more than 3 percent.
The good news? Almost across the board, law enforcement agencies in Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside counties saw an overall decrease in crime last year.
Still, the number of burglaries, thefts and car thefts increased in many jurisdictions.
Thefts were up almost a 10 percent in Dixon, from 557 in 2007 to 612 in 2008.
Thefts in Polo also rose, from 23 in 2007 to 27 last year, a 17 percent increase.
Sterling saw an increase in burglaries, from 111 in 2007 to 144 in 2008.
Rock Falls saw a drop in the number of property crimes, but that’s a trend sure to reverse this year, thanks to a jump in the number of thefts and burglaries, Police Chief Mike Kuelper said.
“The economy was better in 2008, and we were aggressively out there enforcing the things that we could,” Kuelper said. “I don’t think that 2009 is going to be that good, because there are a lot more unemployed people out there.”
Rock Falls reported 35 burglaries and 40 thefts this year, 15 in the last three months alone. Polo, a town of about 2,500, has reported 40 break-ins since June.
In addition to the faltering economy, Sterling Police Lt. Doug Fargher attributes the rise in burglaries to drug use.
“I’m sure that there are some cases of people committing theft to get money or food, but most of the time, they are occurring in order to get money for drugs,” Fargher said. “People will try to buy drugs but come up short and will go into a store or home and steal something to come up with the money.”
Police in Whiteside County have put extra patrols on the street and are more aggressively pursuing drug offenders. In fact, the ongoing “tough on drugs” campaign seemed to be a priority among every police and sheriff’s department in the Sauk Valley, as evidenced by a decline in drug arrests last year.
In 2008, the number of drug arrests in Whiteside County dropped 35 percent; Lee County saw almost a 9 percent drop. The number of arrests for a controlled substance, including cocaine, dropped dramatically, from 92 in 2007 to 36 in 2008.
The number of marijuana cases increased, however, from 119 arrests in 2007 to 127 in 2008, up nearly 7 percent.
“It’s considerably harder to buy drugs in the city and in the county,” Langloss said. “Marijuana is easier to buy, so we’re shifting our investigations to that. We hope that, over a few years span, those numbers will increase and then decrease, much like with the cocaine problem.”
Rock Falls’ biggest crime jump was a 400 percent increase in homicides, but the numbers are a fluke: One man – Nicholas T. Sheley, 30, of Sterling – has been charged with four of the five. The fifth was a woman strangled by her husband in a domestic dispute.
Murders are not really on the rise in Rock Falls, Keupler said, but the statistic does reflect another crime that tends to go up in bad times: domestic violence.
“We’re always concerned about that because, like in this case, it resulted in a homicide,” Kuelper said. “Domestic violence had definitely increased. A lot of it has been mostly verbal, but we still need officers out there to be, in essence, a referee to make sure things don’t get out of control.”
If this year is any indicator, next year’s stats won’t be good, Kuelper said.
“If the economy doesn’t improve, I think it will carry over into next year,” he said. “We need to focus on getting good leads and eyewitnesses, and to get out there and hit the streets.”
Keep your property safe
Protect your car
- Never leave your car unlocked.
- If you run your car in the winter to warm it up, don’t leave it unattended or unlocked.
- Don’t leave a spare key near your car.
- Never leave the windows down.
- Park in well-lighted, public places.
- Never leave valuable items in your car.
- If you must put something of value in your car, keep it in the trunk or under the seats, where it is not visible to others.
Protect your home
- Close and lock all doors and windows when leaving, even for short periods of time.
- Use automatic light timers.
- Illuminate the front and backyard areas to minimize dark spaces where burglars can hide.
- Store ladders, tools or lawn furniture under lock and key. Many times burglars use items left outside to break into homes.
- Trim trees and shrubs. Overgrown areas give burglars a place to hide and work undetected.
- Start a Neighborhood Watch program. Local police departments can provide materials and help get a program started.
- Don’t allow strangers in your home. Ask for identification for all unknown visitors.
- Don’t leave spare keys outdoors.
- Be a nosy neighbor. If you see a suspicious person lurking around your neighbor’s house, call the police.
