FBI Crime Stats: Where Skokie Stands

SKOKIE, IL — New data show the violent crime rate in Skokie decreased last year at a faster rate than the nationwide average, although the number of reported property crimes increased.

The FBI last week published the latest edition of its annual "Crime in the United States" report. It found the reported number of violent crimes in the United States fell 3.9 percent compared to 2017. The property crime rate also dropped nearly 7 percent from 2017.

Meanwhile, Skokie reported a 7 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes, while the number of property crimes rose by 3.9 percent in 2018, according to law enforcement data collected by the FBI. That marks a reversal from 2017 FBI crime data for the village, which indicated a nearly 15 percent rise in violent crime coupled with a slight decrease in the property crime rate.

The nationwide drop in violent crime represents the second straight annual decrease after increases in 2015 and 2016. The FBI estimated there were 368.9 violent crimes for every 100,000 Americans last year.

In Skokie, the violent crime rate was 27 percent lower than the national rate, with 269.4 such offenses per 100,000 residents in 2018. That's less than a quarter of Chicago's rate of violent crime but 30.5 percent higher than Evanston's, according to the FBI data.

Across the country, robbery fell 12 percent from 2017, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter decreased by 6.2 percent, and aggravated assault dropped by a fraction of a percent. There were no murders reported in Skokie last year and one unsolved fatal shooting so far in 2019.

Rape was the only violent crime to increase nationwide last year, although there were fewer cases in the village. There were 139,380 cases of rape reported in the U.S. in 2018, up from 135,666 in 2017. In Skokie, there were 15 rapes reported in 2018, down from 20 the prior year.

The FBI also estimated there were nearly 7.2 million property crimes across the United States in 2018. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson, and all five of the categories saw a decrease from 2017.

That equates to a national rate of 2,362.2 property crimes per 100,000 people, a decrease of 6.9 percent from the 2017 estimated rate. Skokie had an above-average rate of 2,515.3 property crimes per 100,000 residents.

Other Skokie 2018 crime statistics reported to the FBI:

• Robberies: 37
• Aggravated Assaults: 120
• Burglaries: 206
• Larceny/thefts: 1,347
• Motor vehicle thefts: 52
• Arsons: 7

Notable nationwide findings:

• There were more than 1.2 million violent crimes across the country.
• Law enforcement made an estimated 10.3 million arrests in 2018 (excluding traffic violations) which is a slight decrease from 2017.
• The juvenile arrest rate fell 11 percent in 2018 over the 2017 rate.
• Victims of property crime, excluding arson, lost an estimated $16.4 billion in 2018.

The data used in the “Crime in the United States 2018” report was provided by more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies across the country.