Capitol Briefs: State Police report fewer deaths on Illinois highways in 2023

Fatal crashes on interstates and expressways in Illinois fell by 7 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, and shootings were down more than 30 percent.

Illinois State Police report the declines came at the same time troopers were beefing up their enforcement on the state’s transportation arteries. Arrests were up 3 percent, gun recoveries up 12 percent, and vehicle recoveries were up 7 percent.

“Over the past several years, we have really demanded more of ourselves, making the tough decisions, executing, and empowering the most effective law enforcement tool there is – the well-trained, professional, crime-fighting trooper,” ISP Director Brendan Kelly said in a news release. “Challenges remain, but we are headed in a good direction.”

ISP also confiscated more than 10,000 pounds of illegal drugs, and $4.5 million in what they call “illicit criminal currency.”

Technology also plays a large role in enforcement efforts, and ISP plans to install additional license plate readers – cameras which can identify license plates on vehicles that are wanted or suspected in crimes. Those automated readers can send alerts to law enforcement when a plate is recognized.

In 2023, ISP added 139 automated license plate readers to state roads, including 78 cameras in St. Clair County, four in Champaign County, four in Morgan County, and 53 cameras in Cook County. Those were added to an existing 289 cameras in the Chicago area. ISP plans to add cameras in Macon, Madison, Peoria, Bureau, Lake, and Winnebago counties in 2024.

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government. It is distributed to hundreds of newspapers, radio and TV stations statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, along with major contributions from the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation and Southern Illinois Editorial Association.

Jennifer Fuller

BROADCAST DIRECTOR & MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer has worked in journalism for more than 20 years, beginning as a student at Southern Illinois University. From SIU, she moved on to the PAR program at the University of Illinois Springfield, earning her master’s degree in 2001. She continued her coverage of the capitol city at Capitol Radio Group, anchoring the Morning NewsWatch at WTAX and coordinating news content for the other stations in the group. Jennifer returned to my roots and rejoined the team at WSIU Public Broadcasting in the fall of 2003, working her way up to Associate Director for News and Public Affairs in the intervening 20 years. In her time as a journalist, she has covered presidents and governors, legislatures and city councils. She was on the air when 9/11 happened and have covered both breaking and investigative stories that garnered awards. In addition, she has spent her career working to protect the rights of journalists via the Illinois News Broadcasters Association and is a proud past-president of the organization. She also serves on the INBA Foundation Board of Directors.