Why Thefts Are Dropping In Elmhurst

ELMHURST, IL – Property crime has been dropping over the last few years in Elmhurst.

And the police chief says there is a reason for that – officers often know when the bad guys are coming into town.

The city has the technology on its license plate-reading cameras to alert officers when cars that are reported stolen or involved in felonies enter Elmhurst.

In some cases, officers can stop the car and make arrests, Chief Michael McLean told the City Council on Monday. In other cases, drivers speed away.

"We don't engage in dangerous vehicle pursuits, unless there's a forcible felony that occurs," the chief said. "For a simple property crime, we're not going to endanger the public in a vehicle pursuit."

He continued, "We're chasing these criminals out of town and preventing them from committing a crime. I think that's the biggest driver in lower property crime in our town."

The police department's annual reports show drops in reported property crimes.

For the seven years before the pandemic, thefts averaged 429 a year. Since then, the annual average is 364.

For the same pre-pandemic period, burglaries averaged 63 a year, dropping to 44 annually since then.

Thefts of vehicles, though, have increased in the last four years, averaging 23 annually, up from 15.