62% of homicides committed in Rockford in 2021 remain unsolved

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Nearly two-thirds of the homicides committed in the city last year remain unsolved.

Police Chief Carla Redd provided that statistic Tuesday during a news conference called to detail 2021 crime data and discuss initiatives intended to get to the root issues of violence and crime.

There were 24 homicides in the city in 2021, a 33% decline from the record 36 killings a year earlier. But the rate at which police solved homicides dropped for a second straight year.

Arrests have been made in nine of last year’s killings, a nearly 38% solve rate. A year ago police solved 42% of homicides after making arrests in 72% of killings in 2019 and 71% in 2018.

Related: Rockford begins search for Civilian Oversight Board members

Nearly 62% of homicides are solved in police departments across the country, according to FBI data.

Redd said a culture of refusing to “snitch” by providing police with information that could lead to an arrest is partly to blame.

“It never ceases to amaze me, when you respond to a scene and there’s 20 people out there and nobody saw anything,” Redd said. “If it was your loved one, you’d want somebody to come forward with some information. That’s the plea from the police department right now.”

Detectives are still actively working the remaining 15 unsolved homicides from 2021, Redd said.

“We know individuals were present and witnesses to what took place,” she said. “We need them to come forward and report what they saw.”

She said the department is working on launching “tip software” that would allow people to come forward with information while maintaining their anonymity.

Aside from the record number of killings in 2020, the 24 homicides committed last year is the most since 27 in 2017.

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Domestic violence

All four of the homicides related to domestic violence last year were solved, police statistics showed.

The data also showed domestic violence continues to be a key driver of crime in the city. Nearly 40% off all violent crime incidents were related to domestic violence.

Mayor Tom McNamara, who has made working to curtail domestic violence and support survivors a focus of his administration, said it was expected that criminal statistics surrounding domestic violence would increase because of more awareness and support for survivors to report crimes.

He said the Family Peace Center, a one-stop location for survivors to access services, has helped more than 700 survivors since July 2020.

Related: Public Safety Building could be remodeled for family and domestic violence courts

‘Holistic approach’

McNamara said Rockford needs to be an “and” community when it comes to combating crime. That means it must both work to solve crime and hold criminal offenders responsible and provide interventions to prevent crime through better educational attainment and social services.

“We’re taking a holistic approach that sees public safety not just as simply a Rockford Police Department issue, but as an entire communitywide issue,” McNamara said during Tuesday’s news conference. “We need every single person in our community — that means all government bodies, that means all of our nonprofit organizations, our faith community, our businesses and every single citizen — to help us if we’re going to be successful as we fight crime.”

He noted multiple initiatives the city has undertaken to help youth. Included among them is a partnership with the Rockford Park District for summer programs designed to help youth affected by trauma, and a new initiative dubbed Handle with Care expected to launch in mid-March. The later program has police officers alerting schools when a student has been exposed to a traumatic event so that the child can receive additional support. There is also a grassroots coalition of volunteers who meet with students, youth and other community members to serve as mentors or just to talk with and listen to anyone who needs an open ear.

“They are out in the streets talking to those individuals in our community most impacted by violence, as well as talking to those individuals who are committing the violence, and they’re helping our community look for solutions,” McNamara said.

He said the city is also working to build sustainable alternatives to crime for young people by expanding summer employment opportunities. He said the city’s water department hires at-risk youth for on-the-job training and that program will expand this summer. There are similar programs for landscaping and concrete work this year, he said.

And the city’s Rockford Promise program, which provides full-tuition scholarships to Northern Illinois University for qualified graduates of Rockford Public Schools, has increased the number of first-time college students here. He said 79% of Rockford Promise participants were first-generation college students.

“This is critical,” McNamara said. “We know communities that have higher education attainment rates have lower crime rates.”

He said city staff and police will also be going door-to-door to connect residents with services. That could range from connecting people with a program that provides critical home repairs to signing children up for Head Start, an early childhood education program.

“We really, as a community, have said that children are our future,” McNamara said.  “We need to start acting that way.”

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.