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Justice Department Advises Rockford On Violent Crime, Young Criminals, Heroin

Susan Stephens
/
WNIJ

Violent crime, heroin use, and police relations in Rockford --  those three problems were the focus of a year-long study by the Department of Justice. The city invited the analysis and received the initial results Tuesday.

The Department of Justice’s Diagnostics Center got the ball rolling. Now it’s time for the community to pick it up and decide how to run with it. Senior Diagnostic Specialist HildySaizow says that’s the point of the 60 page report: the community has to "decide what its priorities are, what recommendations it's interested in implementing, and what training and technical systems its interested in receiving."

But before the six recommendations were unveiled at the presentation at the Nordlof Center in downtown Rockford, the problems were detailed. And they weren’t pretty. An analysis of Rockford and Winnebago County crime statistics shows the city lags behind the state and nation in employment opportunities and education. So does the police department’s rate of solving crimes. The violent crime rate has been fairly steady as much of the country has seen it drop. Loyola Criminology Professor David Olson helped analyze the numbers. "In  terms of violent crime," he said,  "domestic violence is clearly the driver of that and increasingly so. Gun Violence in the big scheme of things, doesn't account for a lot of the crimes in Rockford, but obviously it's the most serious, the one the public is going to hear about the most."

Among the Department of Justice recommendations: a coordinated community response to violence, with a focus on youth violence prevention efforts. Epperson agrees, saying just arresting them isn't going to serve any purpose. They'll just move in and out of the system. 

The demographics of crime in Rockford follow national trends…and can help target solutions. Gun violence happens primarily between young African American men, between the ages of 16 and 25. Domestic violence is predominately an issue with older white people…and women are the victims, men the perpetrators. Professor David Olson says perception is important, too.

"In Rockford, there are certain communities where the violent crime rate is extremely high. And people rightfully should feel their safety is threatened, given the shootings and violence in those communities. But it also gets to the point you can tell people the crime rate is going down. If that's not how they feel or perceive things, have we really made progress?"

HildySaizow says Rockford also suffers from hyper-segregation…historically and today. And there’s been little change in the concentration of African Americans on the west side, whites on the east side. She says other communities have progressed over the past decade when it comes to integration: Rockford has not. She says the city has a lot of good programs and a lot of good strategies, but can do better.

The Justice Department’s Diagnostics Center studied two other important community issues: it found excessive use of force by the Rockford Police Department is rare now, and there are few citizen complaints. The news isn’t so good about heroin abuse. It’s up, probably because people addicted to prescription drugs are choosing heroin. It’s also stronger, and younger people are getting into it. And again, coordinating community efforts toward prevention and treatment is the recommendation.

The next step? As Hildy Saizow said, it’s up to the community to choose its priorities. Then the Justice Department can help them find solutions.

Susan is an award-winning reporter/writer at her favorite radio station. She's also WNIJ's Perspectives editor, Under Rocks contributor, and local host of All Things Considered.