DeKalb Police Department 2022 data shows 911 calls up, violent crime down as chief eyes hiring

DeKALB – The DeKalb Police Department’s focus on hiring more officers was named by city leaders again this week as a priority amid 2022 crime data recently released by the department that reports calls for service are up while violent crime is down.

Police Chief David Byrd pointed to the report as evidence of people feeling safer when milling about town.

“I would say that we are definitely getting safer,” Byrd said. “Perception is really one of the most important part of this. If you feel like you’re safe, then you feel like you are.”

Byrd attributes the reason why he’s confident about the work that he’s doing with the police department – which operates a $14.9 million budget with 60 sworn officers and 26 civilian employees, records show – to the steps he’s taken to make DeKalb a safer place.

Byrd was first brought on board to lead DeKalb police in May 2021, following a period of social unrest that unfolded several months earlier in DeKalb and across the nation in the wake of the high-profile murder of George Floyd, a Black man, killed by a Minneapolis police officer who is white.

DeKalb ended summer 2022 with a slew of unrelated shootings reported three days in a row. Public calls for solutions to the August violent crime spree made its way to City Hall, where Mayor Cohen Barnes called the occurrences a “significant issue.”

The unrelated August 2022 shootings in the city’s north side left multiple injured and an 18-year-old dead following a midday shooting outside West Ridge Apartments. Just days earlier, a 13-year-old was charged with attempted murder after another teen was shot in the back blocks from an elementary school.

Byrd said at the time that violent crime was a “community issue” that can’t be resolved by just policing alone. He said police patrols in the area continue to be vigilant.

“We’re working our way to add more police officers. Thank you, City Council, for supporting us. Right now, we’re growing as a police department. We’re approximately at 61 officers now. We’re on our road to 70.”

—  DeKalb Police Chief David Byrd

In September, the DeKalb City Council also approved a new crime-free housing initiative meant to target negligent landlords or residences where frequent criminal activity might occur.

This week, Byrd pointed to the statistics from the annual report to support his assertion that DeKalb seems safer.

“As far as the numbers are concerned, yes, we are now able to make more proactive traffic stops,” he said. “We weren’t able to do that last year because we were handling so many calls of services. So, officers weren’t able to be proactive. We’d get a lot of complaints about speeding and other traffic offenses. Right now, since January, officers have been very proactive.”

In 2022, the police department issued 3,661 traffic citations to motorists compared to 2,208 and 1,976 the two previous years, the report shows. Also last year, the police department issued 2,386 warnings to motorists compared to 1,053 and 1,182 the two prior years.

City Manager Bill Nicklas pointed to certain crimes such as weapons-related offenses and various types of assault where people are preying on others and said those numbers were significantly down over the past year.

City documents show violent crimes – including homicide, aggravated assault/battery, criminal sexual assault and robbery – were down to 209 incidents last year compared to 252 in 2020 and 263 in 2021.

“It’s the beginning of the trend that we want to see,” Nicklas said. “This is also why, more particularly, we’re able to free up some officers to deal with traffic offenses and the things that disturb public peace and make people uneasy as they’re moving around our community.”

Hiring also was listed as a continuing challenge for the DeKalb Police Department, the report shows. By boosting staffing levels, the police department aims to reduce overtime costs, increase resources to focus on behavioral health responses, community engagement and traffic enforcement, documents show.

The city’s fiscal 2023 budget calls for five additional police officers who would bring the total number of sworn officers to 70.

Byrd emphasized that there is strength in numbers.

“We’re working our way to add more police officers,” Byrd said. “Thank you, City Council, for supporting us. Right now, we’re growing as a police department. We’re approximately at 61 officers now. We’re on our road to 70.”

Byrd said the police department remains committed to doing its due diligence to find the right candidates to fill available positions.

“It’s been very important that we look for someone ... with integrity,” Byrd said. “That is expected. ... Those are the type of individuals we’re looking for to be police officers in the city of DeKalb. We’re also looking for officers who have their moral compass pointing in the right direction. So, we’ve vetted a lot of personnel who’ve actually put in applications to be police officers. Unfortunately, they have not shown to be worthy and we have not taken them on their applications. We’re going to keep fighting the fight and keep moving until they meet that standard of the DeKalb Police Department.”

The police department last year employed two social workers on a contract basis, city documents show.

Nicklas said DeKalb police would like to expand upon the use of social workers going forward.

“We’ve embedded social workers in our shifts,” Nicklas said. “Sometimes the beginning of a pattern can be interrupted particularly if it’s a matter of preying on others by having that time to cool off and then to visit with people who are willing to talk about some underlying causes and conditions. So, we’re very pleased with that, we’re proud of that.”

The police department’s K-9 program grew over the past year with the addition of Chase, a gun detection dog.

Byrd said having Chase on board has proven to be beneficial to the police department.

“He’s been extremely effective for us as well because there are a lot of illegal firearms in the state of Illinois,” Byrd said. “It’s not just a DeKalb problem. This is a state of Illinois problem. The only way we combat that is to have this type of tool in our toolbox. Chase has been fantastic.”

Byrd said Chase’s handler, Officer Kevin Ballschmeide, has worked well with the K-9 team, including officer Steven Parsons with Drax and officer Elise Dusek with Riggs.

The city also installed license plate reader cameras last spring, which Byrd heralded as effective.

“The visibility concept is strong, but in actual partnership with technology, the license plate readers have been extremely effective,” Byrd said. “It’s done its job. The license plate readers are used to prevent violent offenders from coming into the city of DeKalb. ... Our officers have been able to respond when they know that there are stolen vehicles that have crossed into the city limits of DeKalb, when there are felonious vehicles – meaning that there are vehicles that were vehicles used in a felony – have crossed into the city limits. Officers have been able to respond and coordinate a traffic stop and take those offenders into custody.”

Byrd said moving forward, the DeKalb community can expect technology to play a larger part in the future of policing.

“Technology is going to grow here,” Byrd said. “That means more [license plate readers]. You’re going to see the purchase of drones in the near future. Technology is a very important part of public safety, so you will continue to see that.”