Lake County Gazette

Last week, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill creating a Crime Data Task Force, sponsored by Lake County legislators Mary Edly-Allen and Daniel Didech, in collaboration with Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart.

In the spring of 2024, Illinois State Senator Mary Edly-Allen (Libertyville) and Illinois State Representative Daniel Didech (Buffalo Grove) introduced the bill to establish a statewide task force comprising law enforcement leaders and data experts. The goal is to enhance and accelerate the analysis and publication of Illinois crime data.

Lake County State’s Attorney Rinehart recommended the idea to both legislators as part of his plan to increase the use of crime data. Currently, under the United States Department of Justice’s reporting system, statewide crime data takes months or even years to be released to the public.

After Governor Pritzker signed the bill, Rinehart stated, “Increasing public safety, improving victim services, and preventing crime demand that we have accurate and timely crime statistics. This Task Force will supplement important law enforcement efforts to collect data and educate the public about crime trends. The public is anxious to see accurate crime data, and taxpayers want to know how their tax dollars are being spent with respect to new programs. Accurate and timely crime data improve our work to make all people of Illinois safer.”

“In order to effectively deploy law enforcement and help respond to the needs of communities across Lake County and the state of Illinois, our state’s crime data software system needs a major update,” said Edly-Allen (D-Libertyville). “This legislation is a public safety win for both residents and first responders because it brings together experts in academia, law enforcement, and legal professions."

State Representative Dan Didech (D-Buffalo Grove) added, “This bipartisan legislation, which was passed unanimously through both houses of the legislature, shows how everyone wants access to accurate and timely crime statistics. In 2024, we should not be relying on data that is 18 months old while making important decisions for how to devote resources throughout the state. This legislation will allow legislators, local leaders, and law enforcement the ability to analyze and prioritize immediately. With safety policy, we cannot be playing catch up.”

Rinehart noted: “We have seen data dashboards regarding crime all over the country. Some of these dashboards show data 36 hours after an incident. We need that system -- not just in big cities but in Lake County and other areas of Illinois. This task force will help us report crime trends on everything from shooting incidents to DUIs to theft.”

Rinehart recently reported strong decreases in Lake County violent crime but pointed out that this research had come through direct phone calls and emails to local police departments and the coroner’s office – not through a timely statewide or national reporting system.

Regarding gun violence prevention efforts: “Our team inside the Gun Violence Prevention Initiative spends hours talking to local police personnel about their solved and unsolved incidents of gun violence,” said Rinehart. “We can also report data from our courthouse, but data in the courthouse comes from cases that are solved. We need timely data regarding unsolved cases that haven’t been filed by our prosecutors yet.”

Currently, crime data is released through the United States Department of Justice’s National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), which is not finalized for several months or years.

The Chair of the Task Force will be the Executive Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA), or their designee. The Task Force will include individuals representing law enforcement agencies; Illinois Office of Firearm Violence Prevention; Illinois Secretary of State; experts in academia; health experts; and victim advocate organizations.

Rinehart has already published Lake County's first-ever prosecutor data dashboard in office history. He announced that a gun violence dashboard is under development with plans for release by September.

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