Crime & Safety
Survey: Lemont Officers Made 81 DUI Arrests in 2010
Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists' annual survey shows Lemont police avearged 2.45 DUI citations per officer last year.
As one of the most dangerous times of year for drunk driving—the Fourth of July—comes to a close, a survey ranks the 86th out of 161 Illinois law enforcement agencies for arrests for driving under the influence (DUI).
The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM) released the results of its survey June 21. Nearly 700 police departments were surveyed for the organization’s 21st annual DUI arrest survey.
Lemont reported 81 DUI arrests in 2010, ranking 86th among the reporting departments. The Rockford Police Department was ranked No. 1 with 727 arrests (Chicago was not included in the ratings).
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The Naperville Police Department handed out the most DUI citations in the surrounding area with 671 DUI arrests in 2010, ranking it second in the state.
The survey also suggests that the number of DUI arrests per officer in Lemont is average in comparison with surrounding communities.
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According to the study, Lemont police handed out 2.45 DUIs per officer.
The Illinois State Police arrested 10,734 individuals for DUI in 2010. In Cook County, there were 515 arrests.
The Alliance said in a news release that the most significant deterrents to impaired driving are law enforcement and DUI arrests.
“AAIM is always particularly pleased to announce the increases in impaired driving arrests,” said AAIM board vice president and crash survivor Marti Belluschi in a news release.
“Traffic safety advocates believe that drunken drivers who are arrested are the fortunate ones. In our impaired driving prevention programs, we always remind people that if they are driving drunk they are lucky if it is a cop that stops them, rather than a tree, another car or a small child."
The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists is an Illinois-only citizen activist group founded in 1982 by victims of drunken driving. The Alliance’s mission revolves around prevention, victim advocacy and legislation. A grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation funded the survey.
Here's how the rest of the surrounding communities fared (sorted by number of DUI citations):
Community DUI arrests # of police DUIs per officer Naperville 671 167 4.02 Bolingbrook 160 113 1.42 Plainfield 159 51 3.12 Channahon 110 25 4.40 Woodridge 99 52 1.90 Romeoville 99 63 1.57 Darien 90 36 2.50 Lemont 81 33 2.45 Oswego 78 48 1.63 Minooka 55 20 2.75 Shorewood 47 26 1.81 Yorkville 35 26 1.35 Montgomery 33 15 2.20Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
