Illinois Violence Fact Sheet
Violent Crimes Index
- In Illinois, there were 986 murders in 2001; 666 of these occurred
in Chicago.
- There were 3,938 forcible rapes in Illinois in 2001.
- There were 49,713 aggravated assaults in Illinois in 2001; 25,553
of these occurred in Chicago.
- In 2001, there were 24,867 robberies in Illinois; 18,433 of these
were in Chicago.
Child Abuse and Neglect
- In Illinois, the Department of Child and Family Services currently
investigates over 100,000 reports of child abuse annually.
- 100,451 child abuse/neglect reports were received in FY 01.
- The number of alleged and indicated victims has been steadily
declining since FY 95, when DCFS investigated 139,720 cases.
- In FY 02, 802 substance-exposed infants were recorded by Illinois
hospitals.
Domestic Violence
- In Illinois there is currently no established
mechanism for tracking incidents of Domestic Violence, however,
the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) collects information
from the 52 domestic violence service programs that it currently
funds.
- In FY 01, domestic violence programs served 65,898
adults and 18,364 children.
- IDHS tracked the primary type of family/domestic
abuse reported in FY 01 and concluded that 68% of victims reported
physical abuse, 30% reported emotional abuse, and 2% reported sexual
abuse as being the primary type of violence.
- A total of 59,958 orders of protection were issued
in 2001, up from 48,855 in 1995.
Elder Abuse
- During the period from July 1, 2000 through June
30, 2001, the Illinois Department on Aging received 7,372 reports
of elder abuse. This figure is down slightly from the previous year,
but represents a steady, gradual increase in reports over the past
several years.
- In Illinois, the most commonly reported forms of
elder abuse were financial exploitation (52.4% of the FY 01 cases)
and emotional abuse (45.1%).
Youth Violence
- In 1999, 45,448 juveniles were arrested in Illinois.
Of these arrests, 3,409 were for a violent crime and 2,383 were
for possession of a weapon.
- Homicide is the leading cause of death for Illinois
youths age 10-24 years.
- In 2001, 21% of Chicago students and 11% of other
Illinois students reported that they had carried a weapon (gun,
knife, or club) during the past month.
- Nearly 41% of Chicago students (40.8%) and 27%
of other Illinois students reported in 2001 that they were in a
physical fight during the past year.
- Nearly 12% of Chicago students (11.8%) and 7% of
other Illinois students reported in 2001 that they had attempted
suicide during the past year.
Gun Violence
- In 1999, there were 1,209 gun-related deaths in
the State of Illinois, out of a total of 28,874 gun-related deaths
in the United States.
- Among gun-related deaths of Illinois youths, 182
were homicides, 37 were suicides, 7 were unintentional and 2 deaths
were of undetermined intent.
- Youths are disproportionately affected by gun violence
in Illinois. Youths (0-19 years) comprised nearly one out of every
five gun-related deaths in Illinois (230 of 1,309 deaths or 19%).
By comparison, in the United States only 11.7% of all gun-related
deaths were among youths under the age of 19.
Hate Violence
- In 1997, 448 hate crimes were reported in Illinois.
Forty-nine percent of these crimes involved simple or aggravated
assault. Seventy-three percent of these crimes reflected a racially-based
bias (Illinois State Police).
Sources:
- FBI, Uniform Crime Reports
- Child Welfare League of America. State Fact
Sheets 2001.
- Illinois Department
of children and Family Services. Child Abuse and Neglect Statistics
Annual Report FY 2001.
- Illinois Violence Prevention
Authority. Fact Sheet on Violence in Illinois. www.ivpa.org/factsheets/illinoisviolence.html
- Centers for Disease Control.
2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
- Champaign County Health Care Consumers Gun Regulation
Project. Community Report. August 30, 2001
- Illinois Department of Human
Services. Bureau of Domestic Violence Prevention and Intervention
- Illinois Department on Aging
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