DeKALB – The rate of violent crime in DeKalb is almost three times the national rate, according to 2023 FBI crime statistics.
Violent crimes include murder and non-negligent manslaughter, negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, simple assault and intimidation, according to the FBI.
The DeKalb police department releases an annual report that aggregates crime statistics for the community. The report breaks crime down by location using zones. Locations include Zone 1, Zone 2, Zone 3 and unknown locations.
DeKalb Police Chief David Byrd said the department gets the majority of its calls in Zone 1, which includes the Annie Glidden North area.
“A lot of our arrests of course occur there because that’s where the abundance of our calls and service are,” Byrd said. “In this case, it’s pretty disproportionate. It’s a heavy, heavy percentage. So, that’s where we deploy our resources.”
According to the DeKalb Police Department’s 2023 crime report, 114 violent crimes occurred in Zone 1, 24 in Zone 2, and 22 in Zone 3. The DeKalb Police Department does not include simple assault in its calculation of violent crimes.
Zone 1 includes Greek Row, where NIU’s fraternity and sorority houses are located.
Sophomore pre-med student and kinesiology major Kayle Axelsen is a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority and has lived in the ASA house on Greek Row since the beginning of the school year. Axelsen said she noticed the police presence on Greek Row.
“Especially when there’s like activities going on within Greek Row, there’s cops going up and down Greek Row the whole time,” Axelsen said. “I’d say it’s really well monitored.”
Axelsen said because of the amount of crime that happens in the area she tends to take safety precautions.
“I don’t feel safe walking alone at night,” she said. “If I get home and it’s dark out, I’m always on the phone with someone while I’m walking inside (the sorority house) just because it gives me more security.”
To Axelsen, students on Greek Row are generally out of harm’s way.
“There was one time when we were walking around and there were shots fired,” Axelsen said. “But there’s nothing I would say that’s targeted at students on Greek Row.”
Byrd said as police chief he tries to be careful not to over-police areas that contain marginalized communities.
“I’m very cautious and aware of that because I lived on the south side of Chicago,” Byrd said. “I know what marginalized areas look like.”
Byrd said crime has decreased since he joined the department three years ago.
There were 42 less violent crimes in 2022 than 2021, and 10 less in 2023 than in 2022, according to FBI crime statistics.
The DeKalb Police Department currently has 71 police officers, will have 73 by the end of the year and plans to have 75 next year, according to Byrd.
“This department has never been staffed that strong in the past,” Byrd said. “That’s a good thing for the city of DeKalb. Visibility is a deterrent for crime. The more officers we have, the less crime we hope to see.”
Lisa Rove-Williams graduated from NIU in 1986 and lives north of Greek Row. She said she feels safe in DeKalb.
“We’re (she and her husband) sometimes surprised when we read in the paper that there’s been gun activity,” she said.
Rove-Williams said she and her husband have not been impacted much by the crime in DeKalb.
“We didn’t even lock our doors (when we first moved here),” Rove-Williams said. “We obviously wouldn’t do that now. But I feel pretty safe.”
To Rove-Williams, newspaper reporting and residents in towns like Sycamore exaggerate the danger and give the city a poor reputation.
“They make it sound like you’re not safe walking down any street in DeKalb,” she said. “I just don’t believe that’s true. There’s a lot of nice neighborhoods in DeKalb and a lot of good people.”
