By Matt Rosenberg
Violent crime in Decatur, Illinois jumped a sharp 64 percent in 2021 compared to pre-George Floyd 2019. The increase in was driven by big jumps in aggravated assault and sex crimes.
Property crimes dropped somewhat but within that category, motor vehicle thefts were up 40 percent and arson up almost 20 percent. All told, it’s not good news for an Illinois city that in the last decade has lost 7.36 percent of its population, a greater proportion than any other of the state’s 50 largest municipalities except for Aurora and DeKalb.
Total reported major crimes in Decatur were flat, up less than one percent from 2019 to 2021. Homicide, burglary, and theft were all down.
Still, the full-year comparison for Decatur between pre-Covid 2019 and 2021 is sobering. Violent crimes totaled 616 in 2021 vs 375 in 2019, resulting in large part from a 86 percent increase in aggravated assault/battery.
There’s better news overall in the first four months of 2022. Overall violent crime is down a hefty 35 percent, including a 41 percent decline in aggravated assault/battery, and a 34 percent drop in sex offenses. Overall property crime is down very slightly, by three percent.
However, there are clouds along with that silver lining. In the first trimester of this year in Decatur, murder and arson are up dramatically in percentage terms, although the absolute numbers remain small. Burglary is also up, 15 percent.
And there’s cause for new concern. Just last weekend in Decatur, a young man died in a shooting, more shootings were reported, and a gas station was robbed at gunpoint.
On top of unsettling crime trends in Decatur for 2021 compared to 2019, the city is also economically at risk. In 2019, a national survey found Decatur property value growth badly lagging the national average. The city was in the top-third nationally of 50 where residential property markets were at risk of “turning ugly.”
Decatur is one of a number of larger Illinois cities away from the orbit of Chicago which continue to struggle with crime, population loss, high state taxes, a globalizing economy, poor public schools, and a highly uncertain future.
If Decatur and other Illinois cities skating right at the edge of ongoing decline can’t arrest and reverse the trends threatening their long-term viability, then quite possibly neither can Illinois.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Illinois A.G. Raoul’s Reckless Call To Cancel $1.7 Trillion Of Student Debt And The Sad Story Of How We Got Here
- Parents, keep an eye on your school’s sex ed curriculum. It may be more extreme than you think.
- Supporters of Amendment 1 should get their story straight. Latest double-talk is about workplace safety.
- Chief Executive Magazine ranks Illinois third-worst state for doing business, yet Illinois politicians think businesses will move here because of…“equity!”
- Chicago car thefts spike sharply in 2022, up 100% along lakefront compared to 2019
- Close the revolving door for high-risk offenders in Cook County
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Moving within Illinois is pointless. Chicago, smaller cities, suburbs, and downstate are all on the same downward spiral, just at a different pace. You need to leave the state to find some fiscal sanity. Stop putting your hope in the next election. How many years have you already wasted with that strategy?
I agree but it’s getting more difficult to find a place. On the news the other day they were saying how Nashville real estate prices are going bonkers up well over 25%. Developers and investors are buying up everything. The story was about a food pantry whose lease will not be renewed and she cannot find a place to rent anywhere in the Nashville area. Here in Rockford home values for almost 14 years now went down or stayed flat but taxes increased nonetheless. So the spread between a declining value and the increases in other parts is widening by… Read more »
“So the spread between a declining value and the increases in other parts is widening by the day.”
Yes, this what I’ve been saying for a while here. Sure, you’ll save several thousand dollars a year in taxes, but today’s inflated purchase price of that new home, with interest, offsets any savings from lower taxes.
This will fix itself soon though. Keep your power dry and keep saving. Prices will drop and before long it will be 2010-2014 pricing again. Pricing is too expensive even for the locals and it’s going to go back to normal sooner or later.
If you are saying you waited too long to get out of Illinois, I would agree, however the solution now is to salvage whatever you can and still leave Illinois before the discrepancy between states gets even worse. In other words, cut your losses.
Just as an example here is average home price in Boulder but is somewhat of an exception. https://www.redfin.com/city/2025/CO/Boulder/housing-market This is what home value in Boulder was in 1994 when I built my home in Belvidere https://denver.cbslocal.com/2019/07/25/boulder-ranked-best-housing-market-growth-stability-2019/ Over 268% increase but only thru 2019 where mine went down at least 15% thru 2019 . Last year it went up and a little the year before. Out west buying a home is too expensive and it’s burning up with little if any rain. The midwest is in a drought and another dust bowl may happen soon because of the lack of fertilizer… Read more »
The northwoods – WI, MN, ME, VT, NH…
Funny how when you lock people down and reduce their economic opportunities, violence increases. All of the Covid hucksters need to be called out on the mayhem they unleashed. God bless our police, who pay the price for the misdeeds of the supposed elites.
Called out? Surely you meant hung. Bullets would be too quick for these evil tyrants for the lives and futures they’ve taken away.
I truly wish I didn’t share your pessimism, but I do. And at ALL levels of government, not just Illinois. It appears NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING is being considered OR done to quell the crime and decline in Illinois or the mess our country finds itself in with the current administration. The lies emanating from Springfield and Chicago are appalling. Chicago is safe?!? The budget is balanced?!? Mayorkas declaring the southern border is under control?!? The economy is healthy?!? My only thought can be: VOTE THE BUMS OUT! And hope and pray that the next crop of politicians will do a… Read more »