As the population rises within Naperville so do the crime rates. Naperville is known as one of the safest cities to live and raise a family in. The town claims to have a protected and secure profile, though lately there have been signs of increasing crime rates.
Naperville police have found that burglaries rose nearly thirty percent since last year while robberies climbed nearly thirty-five percent. Although property crime rates are on the rise, violent crime has decreased from the past few years. A few months ago, senior Stephy Drago had a few friends over at night. There was about eight cars lined up in front of the house and two of the cars were broken into. A paycheck and an IPod were stolen from one car and money from the other.
“Sadly, no one was found and the crime remains unsolved.” States Drago
“The reason that the cars were broken into was because my friends had forgotten to lock their doors, so that could have been easily avoided.”
Even though property crime continues to expand, recently the Naperville Police Department has let go of six police officers in late November due to a budget deficit. Hundreds of residents protested through Downtown Naperville to the outside of City Hall objecting the layoffs of these officers.
This action forces Naperville citizens to ask themselves if they will continue to feel safe in a community where a fraction of their police department have been let go. It has been recently surveyed that the majority of residents feel that it is a poor choice to fire six police officers at a time where crime is starting to become such a serious issue.
The superiority of Naperville states that crime will not take a vacation because there are less police officers and this problem continues to worry local residents. Naperville property crime rates are rising but they are still very low when compared to other cities.
Still, proper precautions should be taken such as hiding important valuables if left in a car or locking a garage door at night. ]
Alison Keim, Copy Editor
