By Stephen Nelson
The Bourbonnais Police Department released its annual report for 2023 at the Monday, February 5, village board meeting. Bourbonnais’ reputation as a quiet, safe place to live took a few hits in this report.
First of all, calls for service were the highest seen since 2018. That year, police responded to calls for service 31,270 times. In 2023 total calls for service numbered 30,252. The number of aggravated domestic battery arrests skyrocketed from six in 2022 to 14 last year. Additionally, there were five more arrests (30 in 2023) for domestic battery compared to 2022.
In addition, there were more burglaries in 2023 – 14 compared to zero in 2022. There were also 90 incidents of destruction, damage, or vandalism to property versus 15 such cases the previous year. Aggravated assaults increased from three in 2022 to 35 last year. Crimes against persons, such as larceny, fraud, and stolen property, also saw substantial increases when the numbers from 2023 are compared to 2022.
The full report may be viewed on the village website.