Drunken Drivers: How Many Did Oak Forest Catch Last Year?

By Community Editor Darren McRoy

The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists released its annual survey of Illinois arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol Tuesday.

The survey contains 2012 arrest data for all Illinois counties and for nearly all towns. The chart in this article shows the data for south suburban Patch towns in Cook County, sorted by DUI arrest rate per sworn officer.

Oak Forest made 46 DUI arrests with 39 officers (1.18 arrests per officer). Among south suburban Patch towns in Cook County, the city ranked sixth and seventh in DUI arrests and arrests per officer, respectively.

“One reason AAIM continues to survey and report the number of impaired driving arrests throughout Illinois because traffic safety advocates believe that drunk drivers who are arrested are the fortunate ones," AAIM Board Vice President and crash survivor Marti Belluschi stated in a press release.

"In our impaired driving prevention programs, we always remind people that if they are driving drunk they are lucky if it is a cop that stops them, rather than a tree, another car or a small child," Belluschi stated.

In the entire state, Itasca had the highest arrest rate per officer (11.48), and Rockford had the highest overall number of arrests (686).

Editor's note: Statistics for Chicago Heights were not a part of the data provided on the AAIM website. Tinley Park occupies Cook and Will counties, but its numbers are not broken down by where the arrest happened.