The Village of Oak Park | 123 Madison St.  Oak Park, IL 60302 | village@oak-park.us

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Crime down through first half of 2015

Aug. 17, 2015 – Oak Park Police are reporting a decline in crime through the first seven months of 2015, a decrease they attribute to the continued vigilance of citizens who take an active role in eliminating opportunities for crime and reporting suspicious activity.

The number of crimes reported from January through July of this year was down more than 20 percent as compared to the same period last year.

“Police rely on citizens to take an active role in helping to prevent crime,” said Oak Park Police Chief Rick C. Tanksley. “Oak Park residents understand the importance of taking steps to reduce the number of crimes of opportunity that dominate our statistics, like garage burglaries and bicycle thefts.”

Citizens also have shown a willingness to report activity in their neighborhoods that seems out of the ordinary, according to Tanksley who said, “I believe active citizen involvement is reflected in the numbers not only so far this year, but over the past several years as our overall rate has continued to decline significantly.”

Through July of this year, some 831 crimes were reported, as compared to 1,048 for the same period in 2014. Thefts, which typically represent about 70 percent of crimes in Oak Park, were down significantly – 583 in 2015 compared to 688 in 2014.

Burglary incidents continue to trend downward, according to the police statistics, with 161 burglaries reported so far this year, compared to 262 in 2014.

Police had investigated 11 aggravated assault and battery reports through July, compared to 12 last year, a reminder Police say that serious crimes still do occur, but in small numbers considering Oak Park shares a border with the nation’s third largest city.

Oak Park Police compile data under the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting index, a system used by law enforcement agencies to collect and report statistics, with a focus on what are considered the most serious offenses – murder, criminal sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault/battery, burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.

By the end of July, Police had responded to more than 18,370 calls for service, the majority of which were categorized as medium or low-priority calls, such as accidents with no injuries. When a high priority call is received, on average Oak Park Police arrive on the scene in about three and a half minutes.

For more information about neighborhood crime prevention, residents are urged to talk to their Resident Beat Officer.

Pie chart illustrating crime statistics noted in the story text.