Violent crime 911 calls declined in DeKalb County in 2022, county crime data shows

SYCAMORE – Calls to 911 reporting crimes in DeKalb County were down across the board in 2022, according to National Incident-Based Reporting System data provided in the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office 2022 annual report.

DeKalb County Sheriff Andy Sullivan presented his office’s annual report – which also included traffic crash statistics – to the DeKalb County Board’s Law and Justice Committee on May 22.

The crimes reported to the national system are divided into two categories, Group A offenses and Group B. Crimes against persons, property and society fall into Group A. Group B includes disorderly conduct, driving under the influence, liquor law violations, trespassing of real property and all other offenses not included in Group A.

From 2021 to 2022 Group B saw a 12% decrease in reported offenses and Group A offenses declined by 31.91%. Officials cautioned using comparative data since this is the second year the national incident-based reporting system is being used by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office.

“It’s encouraging, but it’s also only the second year we’ve had this new system,” Sullivan said. “It went into effect in 2021, and then we had some reporting issues with it. This was – really last year was our first full year of full data, so I think next year we’ll have a better handle on how the new program is working.”

County Board and Law and Justice Committee member Mary Cozad, a Democrat from District 10, said she thinks the decrease is “a very good thing,” but wasn’t sure how telling the statistics are with only one year-over-year comparison available.

“A couple of years is probably not enough time to make sure they’re absolutely on the up and up, no matter how well intentioned they were,” Cozad said. “But you know, I think we need to wait another year or two and see if the figures are consistent.”

Crimes against society – a Group A offense that includes drug and narcotic violations, weapons law violations, animal cruelty charges and other offenses – declined by 40.3% from 2021 to 2022, according to the data presented in the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office 2022 annual report.

Crimes against property declined by 38.38%, from 383 offenses in 2021 to 236 in 2022, according to the report. Crimes against property include larceny, arson, fraud, burglary, destruction of property, as well as a handful of other offenses.

“It’s encouraging, but it’s also only the second year we’ve had this new system. It went into effect in 2021 and then we had some reporting issues with it. This was – really last year was our first full year of full data, so I think next year we’ll have a better handle on how the new program is working.”

—  Andy Sullivan, DeKalb County sheriff

Crimes against a person – such as simple and aggravated assault and nonconsensual sex offenses – dropped from 158 in 2021 to 138 in 2022, a 12.66% decrease, according to the data.

Cozad said she read through the sheriff’s report ahead of his presentation to the Law and Justice Committee, but isn’t sure why reported crime is down across all categories.

“I have no real reason to doubt the statistics. It might be somewhat related, somehow, to [COVID-19] but other than that, I don’t really know,” Cozad said.

Asked what’s driving the reported crime decreases, and if the end of the COVID-19 pandemic was playing a role, Sullivan said he thinks “it’s kind of hard to say.” He said he believes other functions of the Sheriff’s office have picked up since the height of the pandemic.

“I think certainly when [COVID-19] was a factor it certainly had a different ... impact on things there, of course,” Sullivan said. “Our civil process was down with evictions and all that stuff, but that’s all increased back up and that’s of the court-ordered or mandated functions of the Sheriff’s office is to serve all the civil processes with the summons and subpoenas and evictions and all that stuff. So those numbers are on the rise again.”

It wasn’t included in the annual report, but Sullivan said a social work program his office takes part in has continued to be fruitful.

“Our social worker program has been a huge help with us when we’re dealing and responding to mental health-related calls, so that’s been a huge improvement for us. ... I think it’s been a really beneficial program.”