Deerfield Police Received Over 7K Service Calls To Start Year: Report

DEERFIELD, IL — It was a busy first six months for the Deerfield Police Department, but not out of the ordinary, according to Deputy Police Chief Brian Budny. In all, the department responded to 7,846 calls between Jan. 1 of this year and June 30. Budny presented this data and other police information from the department's semi-annual report to the Deerfield Village Board during Tuesday night's meeting.

Budny said the number of calls for service, which include everything from traffic stops to citizens calling for help to traffic crashes, "pretty steady" in comparison with the prior four years. According to the report, here are the number of calls for the first six months of the year since 2019:

• 2019 — 10,014 calls
• 2020 — 5,807 calls
• 2021 — 6,993 calls
• 2022 — 7,202 calls

According to a crime index summary provided in the semi-annual report's packet, serious crimes are down for the second-straight year, following a high of 295 in 2021. Last year, that number through six months was 85 and the number was 74 for 2023. For this year, those crimes include forcible rape (three incidents), simple assault (17), burglary (eight), theft (39), and motor vehicle theft (seven).

"We're going down, which is a very good positive for statistics to be going down," said Budny, who indicated the higher number in 2021 was mostly due to an increase in identity theft across the state at the height of the pandemic.

With regard to property crimes, the report indicates criminal damage to property crimes were up from 17 in 2022 to 47 during the first six months of this year. Budny noted a change to FBI reporting policy in February 2022 added stolen vehicle parts under this crime classification. An increase in catalytic converter thefts nationwide has been the biggest factor in seeing this number go up, according to the report.

Retail theft was down with 18 incidents this year, compared to 21 and 19 in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Motor vehicle theft is up, though, with seven in 2023 compared to just three total over the last two years.

"Chicago has 83 a day (motor vehicle thefts), so I think we're doing pretty good with that," Budny said. "The biggest thing with that though is people leaving their cars unlocked and leaving their key fobs in the car."

Budny characterized the number of traffic collisions in 2023 as being "consistent" with past years. Following a high of 384 in 2019, the number of traffic collisions during the same time frame of 2023 was 241, down from 269 last year.

Overall traffic citations were down this year at 703 compared to 870 in 2022. In addition, driving under the influence arrests saw a significant decrease from 40 last year to 12 in 2023.

Budny also discussed updates being made to the department's dispatch center. He said the projected completion date is Oct. 1 and tours will be made available. Deerfield currently dispatches for four communities, including Bannockburn and Riverwoods.

"Construction is almost done. Now, we're waiting for equipment and all the technology stuff we're waiting for," Budny said.