Joliet chief reports on city crime trends in 2022

Violent crime was down in Joliet in 2022 although the number of homicides was up, Police Chief Bill Evans said in a report on crime trends in the city.

“Crime is up in some areas slightly, and it’s down in some areas slightly,” Evans told the City Council at its meeting Tuesday.

Some areas of significant change included drops in robberies and motor vehicle thefts and an increase in financial crimes due to the new criminal practice of washing and reusing checks stolen out of the mail.

The seven homicides in 2022 were up from the 2021 but “considerably down” from the previous two years, Evans said.

The Joliet Police Department had a 57% homicide clearance rate, or cases where arrests were made, which Evans said is above the national average and is likely to go up because of cases still under investigation from last year.

The total number of violent crimes was down 2% at 692, compared with 706 in 2021.

Evans noted the size of Joliet to put some perspective on the number of violent crimes.

“There are 151,000 people living in Joliet, and the daytime population is enormous with all the business and all the traffic going through Joliet,” he said.

Evans said the department is planning innovative programs in the coming year to reduce violent crime, but he did not provide details.

Evans said police removed 263 weapons from the streets last year.

The city is adding police officers, and more officers should lead to “a little bit of a reduction in street crime,” he said.

Joliet now has 267 officers but is budgeted for 286 this year. The city added 40 officers last year but also is replacing retirees while trying to add to the overall number.

Robberies were down 24%, and motor vehicle thefts were down 13%. Evans said there also was a decrease in criminal sexual assaults.

Burglaries were “slightly up,” he said.

The biggest increase was in financial crimes, Evans said, due to a new trend of criminals stealing checks once they’re in the mail and using a process called “washing” that makes it possible to reuse the checks fraudulently.

“They’re being washed, and they’re being used for higher amounts,” Evans said.

Mayor Bob O’Dekirk, who previously asked Evans to prepare the report on crime trends, said he considered it “good news, especially in light of what’s happening all over our country.”

“Other communities have seen a real spike in crime,” O’Dekirk said. “That isn’t happening in Joliet.”