DUI Counts: How Does Yorkville Compare To Nearby Towns?

YORKVILLE, IL — The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists released its 28th annual statewide survey of drunk driving arrests last week, and the United City of Yorkville ranked No. 105 among hundreds of Illinois police departments when it came to the number of DUI arrests made in 2017. The village's 33 sworn officers racked up a total of 25 DUI arrests last year, for a per-officer total of .76.

AAIM's annual survey of municipal police and sheriff's departments recognizes the most productive officers and agencies in the fight against intoxicated driving. Across the state, 567 departments were surveyed for the 2017 DUI Arrest Survey, which is funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

AAIM, a Schaumburg-based nonprofit group, was founded in 1982 by victims of drunk driving to focus on victim advocacy, preventing impaired driving and legislative reform. It said the survey data provided a valuable resource to citizens by allowing people to compare the enforcement records across other communities and apply public pressure where it may be needed to make DUI enforcement a larger priority.

Rockford was the Illinois town with the most DUIs, with a total of 490 arrests and 283 sworn officers, giving it a per-officer DUI rate of 1.73. The number of DUI arrests made by Chicago police decreased by 23.5 percent, from 2,592 in 2016 to 1,982 in 2017, according to AAIM.

The AAIM rankings also single out officers with the highest DUI arrest totals in each department. In Yorkville, that honor went to Officer Ryan Goldsmith, who had four DUI arrests in 2017. Statewide, Trooper Eric David of ISP District Chicago by far had the most DUI arrests at 208.

Here's how towns near Yorkville stacked up:

• No. 9: Naperville - 271 arrests, 168 officers (1.61 per officer)
• No. 25: Romeoville - 135 arrests, 63 officers (2.14 per officer)
• No. 35: Joliet - 116 arrests, 272 officers (.43 per officer)
• No. 50: Bolingbrook - 95 arrests, 113 officers (.84 per officer)
• No. 58: Plainfield - 84 arrests, 53 officers (1.58 per officer)
• No. 82: Montgomery - 52 arrests, 31 officers (1.68 per officer)
• No. 97: Minooka - 36 arrests, 18 officers (2.0 per officer)
• No. 100: Oswego - 33 arrests, 48 officers (.69 per officer)
• No. 103: Channahon - 27 arrests, 22 officers (1.23 per officer)
• No. 104: Shorewood - 26 arrests, 28 officers (.93 per officer)
• No. 105: Yorkville - 25 arrests, 33 officers (.76 per officer)

See the full DUI arrest totals here.

Rita Kreslin of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists said the progress in drunk driving enforcement at some departments was encouraging but the battle to prevent senseless traffic crashes caused by impaired drivers is far from over.

“AAIM has great respect for all these officers and departments for their aggressive DUI enforcement. We are grateful for their willingness to put forth the extra effort in removing drunk drivers from our roads,” Kreslin said.

More: DUI Arrest Totals by Officer, Arrests Totals by Municipality