With the release of the Illinois State Police 2007 crime rate report, Streator Police Chief Jeff Anderson credited citizens' and patrol officers' proactive attitude being the major contributors to the city's 12 percent crime rate decrease.

"In the last couple years, we've patrolled a little better and the public has become more involved," Anderson told The Times. "People are calling in ... such as when they see a suspicious vehicle.

"Our Neighborhood Watch program also has re-started, and that has a lot to do with the public."

Every year, the state police force publishes the annual crime statistics from the previous year, fleshing out local and state numbers for what are considered the most prevalent and apt to be reported offenses.

But local police chiefs and officers say while the statistics are helpful in analyzing where their own departments' efforts should prioritized, the numbers don't tell the whole story, and sometimes they're just not right.

For example, the report states there were no murders throughout La Salle County in 2007. There was in fact a double murder that summer in which Katherine and Aloysius Twardowski, 87 and 84 respectively, were murdered at their rural Seneca home. Forty-year-old Keith Mackowiak was arrested and charged with their murders. He is awaiting trial.

With the report comes an overall analysis of whether the state's crime rate increased or decreased, and looking deeper into the report, there are statistics on inidividual counties and cities. The report outlines eight "index" crimes including both crimes against people (murder, criminal sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault-battery) as well as property crimes (burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and arson.) There also are statistics for drug arrests and several other crimes.

The report provides both a crime rate percentage and percentage change between the number of offenses in 2006 and 2007. The crime rate indicates the prevalence of crime occurring across a given population. Throughout the state, the crime rate fell 3.6 percent, with reports of murder and motor vehicle theft having the biggest decreases.

In La Salle County, the crime rate fell 4.5 percent, and crime index offenses declined by 4.1 percent from 2006 to 2007. Drug arrests also were down 3.5 percent.

Sheriff Tom Templeton cautioned what is not reflected by the crime stats is the increasing population at the county's jail.

In Ottawa, the crime index offenses rose 2.7 percent, with 627 offenses reported in 2006 and 644 in 2007.

"In general, the numbers in the state crime index hold fairly true in our community," said Ottawa Police Capt. Brent Roalson. "They can, however, be misunderstood. There are factors that go unexplained in the reporting of these stats.

"For example, victims may or may not report the crime, which can either increase or decrease the stats. The officer handling the case may find an alternate solution that the victim may want as opposed to having the suspect charged and so forth."

The report indicates increases in two categories for Ottawa -- theft and battery-aggravated assault.

"I would say the increase would be due to more reporting of the crimes. You do have other factors which would play a part, for instance, alcohol and drug use," Roalson said. "Unfortunately, alcohol as we all know can lead to a higher rate of fights and drug users have a higher tendency to commit thefts due to their drug dependence and need to fill that dependency."

Another trend not completely reflected in the crime stats is theft from motor vehicles, Roalson said.

"The stats actually fall into the area of theft, but it can be deceptive when you look at an area where thefts increase dramatically. It is not uncommon for a person (or people) to commit several vehicle burglaries in a night if on a drug binge and seeking money for their next high," Roalson said. This can dramatically inflate the theft numbers if the victims report the incident.

"There are several times (more often than not) people will leave their vehicles unlocked and someone will go through the vehicle for spare change, cigarettes or electronics and the owner may not even notice or report the incident. Some actually feel embarrassed as well and do not report the incidents."

The Illinois Uniform Crime Reporting Program was implemented in 1972, and state police were given the responsibility to act as the central repository for crime statistics. Agencies report data on a monthly basis.

The number of reported index offenses in Streator fell from 546 to 479. Anderson said while he hopes the number will decrease again, other factors outside of police control will dictate the crime pattern.

"I think crime will go up again," he said when asked about the impact of the economy on crime. "Fortunately (the price of) gas is going way down. When it's up, we were having a lot more drive-offs."

Police officials report the types of crimes that tend to rise when the economy slumps are thefts and burglaries. Templeton said domestic batteries also tend to increase. Domestic crimes throughout La Salle County decreased from 2006 to 2007 from 631 to 607.

La Salle County communities as a whole saw decreases in every crime index category except aggravated assault-battery, which increased 13 percent. The total number of arrests also rose 2.6 percent from 608 in 2006 to 624 in 2007.