DUI Arrests: How Does Wheaton Compare With Other Towns?

Wheaton ranks near the middle out of 52 area towns for the number of drunken driving arrests and the ratio of police officers to DUI arrests, according to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.

But nearby Carol Stream ranked third out of the list of towns in both arrests and the ratio of officers to the arrests, according to the Alliance's data from 2012.

The Wheaton Police Department logged 134 DUI arrests in 2012. With 65 sworn officers, that comes out to 2.06 arrests per officer for 28th place out of 52. AAIM released its annual survey of Illinois arrests for DUI Tuesday.

Carol Stream had 349 DUI arrests and an arrest rate per officer of 5.63. The Glen Ellyn Police Department made 145 DUI arrests in 2012, 3.92 arrests per sworn officer. Warrenville had 76 DUI arrests and a 2.11 ratio; Winfield had 55 DUI arrests and a 3.24 ratio.

The survey contains 2012 arrest data for all Illinois counties and for nearly all towns. The chart on this page shows the data for west-Chicago towns, sorted by DUI arrest rate per sworn officer.

Since 1990, nonprofit AAIM has conducted a survey of police departments. In 2012, nearly 700 police agencies were surveyed with 84 percent responding, according to AAIM.

“One reason AAIM continues to survey and report the number of impaired driving arrests throughout Illinois (is) because traffic safety advocates believe that drunk drivers who are arrested are the fortunate ones," AAIM Board Vice President and crash survivor Marti Belluschi said in a press release. 

"In our impaired driving prevention programs, we always remind people that if they are driving drunk they are lucky if it is a cop that stops them, rather than a tree, another car or a small child."

Rockford came in first place, with 699 DUI arrests; Naperville second, with 622; and Springfield third, with 553. The Village of Itasca had the highest arrest rate per officer in the state (11.48). 

Chicago is not included and due to its size, has its own category.

About AAIM

AAIM is an Illinois-only citizen activist group founded in 1982 by victims of drunk driving. The organization's mission is prevention, victim advocacy and legislation.

Patch Editor Darren McRoy contributed to this report.    

Let Patch save you time. Get stories delivered to your inbox—sign up for our email newsletter. Fast signup here. You can also like us on Facebook.