23-Sep-11 – If you can make it past New Year’s Day and the summer months to Christmas – unless it falls on a Friday – without being a crime victim, you are safe for at least a few days.

An analysis of CPD crime data for Chicago’s 42nd Ward over the past ten years shows more incidents are reported on New Year’s Day than any other day of the year and you are probably safest in downtown Chicago on Christmas Day.

From January 1, 2001, to September 7, 2011, there were 141,480 reported incidents of crime in the downtown Chicago neighborhoods of Fulton River District, Gold Coast, Loop, Near North, New East Side, River North, and Streeterville. The data ended up online last week as part of the City of Chicago’s new “Data Portal” system. Marina City Online downloads 42nd Ward crime data each day and stores the information for quick searches and analysis.

Theft was the most commonly reported crime. Five varieties of theft – led by theft from a building and retail theft – accounted for 46 percent of all incidents. Among the top ten most-reported crimes, simple battery was committed in six percent of incidents and simple assault, more serious, in three percent of incidents.

The busiest New Year’s Days for Chicago police were in 2008 (79 incidents), 2007 (78 incidents), and 2003 (73 incidents). The average number of incidents per day is 39. But on September 6, 2002, 82 incidents were reported and 75 incidents the day before.

June, July, and August are the biggest months for crime in downtown Chicago, with the first three months of the year being the quietest. Most incidents appear to be reported on Fridays and the fewest are reported on Sundays.

There was an arrest in 28 percent of the 141,480 cases. Two percent of the incidents were classified as domestic.

4.6 million crimes online

On September 14, Mayor Rahm Emanuel (left) announced that more than 4.6 million crime incident reports going back ten years are now available online. The release of the data, according to the mayor’s office, was part of “ongoing efforts to increase transparency and provide an invaluable resource for criminal justice research institutions, community policing organizations, journalists, and residents invested in making their neighborhoods safer.” Prior to the release, online crime data only went back 90 days.

Information retrieved by Marina City Online every morning includes case number, date, block, primary crime type, description of the crime, description of the location, whether or not there was an arrest, whether or not it was a domestic incident, 18th District beat number, IUCR crime code, and FBI crime code. If the crime involves personal injury, MCO then obtains the full police report.

The 42nd Ward Crime Database allows users to select a block, enter an email address, and at no charge receive an alert automatically whenever a new incident is reported.

A new feature provides an analysis of data for any city block in the 42nd Ward. A report is displayed that includes total number of incidents since 2001, percentage of incidents in which there was an arrest, and percentage that represents domestic incidents. These numbers are then compared with averages for the entire ward.

The report then displays descriptions of crime incidents reported the most, locations at which the most incidents were reported, years (2002-2010) sorted by number of incidents on the block, months of the year sorted by number of incidents, and days of the week sorted by number of incidents.

The database is available online at crime.loopnorth.com.

Crime stats for 42nd Ward