Violent Crime Increases in 2015 in Crystal Lake: Report

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL - The FBI released its annual "Crime in the United States 2015” report, which includes information about Crystal Lake.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Report measures crime indexes, including murder/non-negligent homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault,; property crime and aggravated assault, falling under violent crime; and property crime, which includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.The FBI has also set a goal of 2021 for rolling out its first-ever use-of-force data base charting use of force by law enforcement agencies.

Nationwide, the uniform crime report for 2015 indicates a 3.9 percent increase in the estimated number of violent crimes, and 2.6 percent decrease in the estimated number of property crimes last year compared to 2014 data.

Although U.S. violent crime increased from 2014 figures (1,197,704 violent crimes were reported in the United States last year) the 2015 violent crime total was .07 percent lower than 2011 level, and 16.5 percent below the 2006 level, according to the report.

In 2015, Crystal Lake logged 59 violent crimes, including nine rapes, seven robberies and 43 aggravated assaults. There were no murders in 2015.

Compared to Crystal Lake’s statistics from 2014, violent crime edged up slightly in 2015 from the 52 violent crimes reported the year before, including seven reported rapes and 41 aggravated assaults. There also no homicides in 2014.

Crystal Lake racked up 749 property crimes in 2015, including 48 burglaries; 692 larceny/theft reports and nine motor vehicle thefts. There were no arsons reported in 2015.

In 2014, property crime reports were higher with 842 reports. There were more burglaries as well, with 57 reported in 2014. Lacerny/theft reports also spiked with 770 in 2014. There were 15 motor vehicle thefts and four arsons.

There were four reported robberies in 2014 in Crystal Lake and seven in 2015.

The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program has been in effect since 1930. The resulting “Crime in the United States” report is a nationwide, cooperative statistical effort by nearly 18,000 city, university and college, county,state, tribal and federal law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agencies voluntarily report data on crimes brought to their attention over a year’s course.

The data is used to general reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation and management. In recent years the data has also become one of the country’s leading social indicators, the FBI says.

For more information about 2015 crime statistics in Crystal Lake and the uniform crime report, visit the FBI website.
Lorraine Swanson contributed to this story