FBI 2016 Report Shows Violent and Property Crime Up in Oak Lawn

OAK LAWN, IL -- The FBI released its annual Crime in the United States 2016 report, which includes information about Oak Lawn. The Uniform Crime Report measures crime indexes, including murder/non-negligent homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, falling under violent crime; and property crime, which includes burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson.

Violent crime increased nationwide for the second consecutive year, while property crime decreased for the 14th straight year, according to the FBI’s annual report on national crime statistics released this week. There were an estimated 17,250 murders in the U.S. last year, an 8.6 percent increase from 2015.

Overall, violent crime in the United States rose 4.1 percent last year, while property crime fell 1.3 percent compared to 2015 figures. Chicago played a large role in 2016’s nationwide violent crime spike. According to the FBI report, there were 765 homicides in Chicago in 2016, compared to 478 murders in 2015, marking the deadliest year in nearly two decades.

In 2016, with a population of 56,791, Oak Lawn showed upticks in violent crime and property crime compared to the year before. Although there were gains and losses in some categories, Oak Lawn logged 79 violent crimes in 2016 compared to 71 from the year before. Of those violent crimes reported in 2016, there were 7 rapes, 38 robberies and 33 aggravated assaults. One domestic-related homicide was reported last year; in 2015 there were no reported homicides.

Oak Lawn saw a slight decrease in rape last year, down by one from 2015. Aggravated assault cases also declined from 41 to 33.

Bucking national trends, property crime rose in Oak Lawn, with 937 cases clocked in 2016, compared to 816 from the year before. Robberies in Oak Lawn jumped from 22 in 2015 to 38 last year. Further, larceny and theft jumped to 810 reported cases compared to 671 in 2015. There were three arsons last year as opposed to the one arson from the year before.

Burglaries decreased by eight in Oak Lawn, with 99 cases reported in 2016, compared to 107 from the year before. Motor vehicle thefts also declined by 10 from the 38 cases reported 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 generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation and management. In recent years the data has become one of the country’s leading social indicators, the FBI says.
For more information about 2016 crime statistics in Oak Lawn and the uniform crime report, visit the FBI website.