Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the county saw the lowest number of homicides in 2023 compared to the past seven years but called it not enough and said the goal is for zero homicides.
Rinehart provided his annual report to the Law and Judicial Committee of the Lake County Board on Tuesday.
The state’s attorney has provided crime statistics to the committee since 2020 while detailing the office’s new programs and budgetary needs.
“With increased law enforcement resources, innovative community programs, and expanded victim support, the Lake County justice and safety system is working together to prevent crime and hold offenders accountable. We are seeing a significant decrease in violent crime across all communities even as we strive to prevent every incident,” Rinehart said.
Rinehart presented data compiled from law enforcement agencies that showed a 55% decrease in homicides between 2022 and 2023.
The steep decrease was due to four mass casualty events in 2022 that caused the homicides to spike.
Those included the Highland Park parade shooting that left seven dead and three separate domestic violence incidents that left eight people killed.
There were 24 homicides in Lake County in 2023, which was the lowest total in seven years.
Rinehart said there have been 10 homicides in Lake County in 2024 as of July 30, a 29% decrease from the county’s total at the same point on July 30, 2023.
“This reduction is not enough. Our goal is to be a county that reaches zero homicides,” Rinehart said.
Law enforcement agencies also reported to the state’s attorney’s office that there had been a 44% reduction in non-fatal shootings between 2022 and 2023 in Waukegan, North Chicago and Zion.
Rinehart praised the work of law enforcement and his office’s Gun Violence Prevention Initiative (GVPI).
“Clearance rates are moving up because of the hard work of law enforcement and the increased use of technology in all parts of the justice system. Our forensic cyber lab continues to increase its capabilities due to a grant we secured in 2021. This allows us to search the phones of shooters, armed robbers, and sex offenders. I believe this is one of the reasons why these crimes are decreasing,” he said.
Rinehart also addressed the ongoing work of the office to execute a comprehensive strategy for the opioid crisis.
“I am proud of the work of the Lake County Opioid Initiative, the Health Department, and community partners like NIRCO to save lives with expanded treatment and the implementation of harm reduction strategies. These heroes on the front lines of helping others,” Rinehart said.
“At the same time, since 2022, we have increased law enforcement training regarding the investigation of opioid poisoning deaths, and we are working with the Lake County Coroner, Jennifer Banek, to collect more evidence to hold accountable drug dealers who sell the drugs that is causing so much death,” he added.
Rinehart ended his presentation by distributing preliminary data regarding the SAFE-T Act, which went into effect on September 18.
“The new system lets us hold the most dangerous offenders without having to worry about them posting cash. Under the new system, our outstanding prosecutors are successfully detaining sex offenders, domestic abusers, and weapon offenders – and those offenders are staying in the jail at much higher percentages than the cash system,” Rinehart said.