It’s a crime Elgin still fighting image problem

• Reprints

Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain | Sun-Times Media File

Article Extras

Updated: November 19, 2011 8:41AM

Aurora Police Chief Greg Thomas’ quote in last week’s column struck me as compelling: Comparing neighborhood meetings in 2002, where residents were outraged at the crime and violence, he said “the main concerns” of those same groups he now attends are “loud music and parking.”

It’s a profound reminder that Aurora has come a long way since those dark days — when the city would register up to 300 shootings a year, including more than two dozen murders. It’s taken a lot of effort from the police department, but the payoff has been dramatic; Last year there were 75 shootings, so far this year, 50. Crime overall also has decreased — down 13 percent in 2010.

Likewise, in Elgin, things also have seen a turnaround. While the murder of a 5-year-old child made big headlines recently, overall, the rate of crime has dropped significantly.

“If you look at the statistics, Elgin has one of the lowest crime rates in the state — comparable to Naperville,” Elgin Mayor David Kaptain said. “It’s gone down consecutively the last 10 years.”

Unfortunately, this good news doesn’t always translate into a better image. No matter what the stats say, the perception remains that both Aurora and Elgin are roiling with gang violence. And it’s not just everyday folks adding to that misconception. In fact, a Rockford-area official recently made disparaging remarks about these cities in a news article concerning gang membership making its way to more rural areas.

“We’re not in the situation as other communities are, you know Elgin, Aurora areas,” said Michelle Courier, state’s attorney for Boone County, which butts up next to Rockford and includes part of the Rockford school district. “We don’t have that type of gang activity ... .”

It was a comment based on little research. Which is why Aurora city spokesman Dan Ferrelli fired off a statistic-filled email to Courier. “Unfortunately,” he wrote, “perceptions are not easy to reverse. Any community that believes street gangs are not operating in their neighborhoods are naïve and not based in reality, and I applaud your agency’s proactive stance of attacking gang violence ... However, in this instance ... it was unfair to imply a major gang recruitment problem ... without having accurate data at your disposal.”

Ferrelli hasn’t heard back from Courier. No doubt she’s too busy keeping gangs out of Boone County so the community won’t turn into an Aurora or Elgin. Never mind the fact the next-door city of Rockford — Boone County is included in the Rockford Metropolitan Statistical Area — was recently ranked by the website “24/7 Wall Street” as the ninth most dangerous city in the nation.

Never mind that, among the large Illinois cities, Rockford had the highest rate of violent crime per capita last year, with 14 violent crimes for every 1,000 residents.

We all know it’s easier to ruin a reputation than to repair one. Still, while officials get frustrated with the image problem, they also see “things beginning to change,” Kaptain said.

“There will always be a mixed bag among local residents,” he noted. “But I walk everywhere in town and generally, people feel safe here.”

There will also always be the clueless among us. And some people simply want to believe the worst. But Elgin, the mayor said, is morphing into a city known for its environmental sustainability initiatives, its leadership role in emergency response protocol, and as the cultural arts center of the northwest suburbs.

It’s the good things happening here, he added, that are filling up that negative vacuum with positives. And the more people who actually step foot in the city, the faster that will occur.

After moving here from Oak Park, an artist recently contacted Kaptain with glowing reviews about Elgin’s renowned symphony, community theater, art shows and historic area house walks. And today, the city is breaking ground on the Elgin Artspace Lofts — affordable housing for artists that will include commercial space and an art gallery.

Said Kaptain, “You can’t buy that kind of reputation.”