Property crimes and personal crimes were down for the first half of 2025, according to a mid-year crime report from the Naperville Police Department.
The report released Tuesday examined crime and incident data reported between Jan. 1 and June 30. The numbers for that time frame were compared with crime numbers from the same time frame going back to 2022.
The report found that property crimes and personal crimes were at their lowest for the first six months of this year compared to the mid-year crime statistics of the last three years.
Annually reported mid-year crime data are broken down into three categories: property crimes, personal crimes and crimes against society.
“You’re always pleased as a police chief to see your crimes against persons numbers and your crimes against property numbers lower in a comparison,” Naperville Police Chief Jason Arres said.
At the same time, Arres was cautious about expressing too much optimism, noting that a lot can happen within the remaining six months of the year.
Property crimes include incidents of theft, fraud and vandalism. The first half of 2025 saw 910 incidents of property crime, whereas last year saw 1,194 property crimes for the same time period.
Financial crimes made up about a quarter of all property offenses reported for the first half of 2025, according to the report.
“Things like shoplifting are down. Burglaries were down again, not by a ton. Motor vehicle thefts were significantly down,” Arres said. “It was nice, but I also know there’s still six more months left in the year so a lot can happen in six months.”
Arres also noted that while he was pleased to see a decrease in shoplifting incidents, shoplifting is a crime that is usually underreported to the police.
Personal crime, which police measure by the number of victims not incidents, decreased slightly, with 457 people victimized compared to 496 for the same time frame last year. Personal crime includes cases of murder, assault and kidnapping/unlawful restraint.
Consistent with previous years, about 90% of personal crimes reported fell under the categories of simple assault or intimidation. Simple assault includes altercations and incidents that don’t involve weapons or serious injuries, including domestic incidents. There were 366 cases of simple assault reported and 45 cases of intimidation reported.
Domestic batteries, which fall under the category of simple assault, made up 52% of all crimes against person reported to the police, the report said.
Crimes against society, which include incidents involving weapons, prostitution and drug violations, were higher this year when compared to last year’s mid-year report – jumping from 206 to 276 incidents. That jump marks a 34% increase in these incidents, according to the report.
Offenses that fall under crimes against society, the report said, are often discovered through proactive police work.
Drug/narcotic violations made up for more than half of the crimes against society, with police reporting 173 incidents in the first half of 2025. There were 121 drug/narcotics violations in the same time frame for 2024. Driving under the influence offenses are counted in this category.
In Naperville police’s full-year crime report for incidents in 2024, crime was down across the board compared to 2023, although Arres previously emphasized that crime has stayed relatively consistent over the past three years.
The annual mid-year report also comes as Naperville receives recognition for its overall safety. Earlier this year, the city ranked No. 19 on U.S. News and World Report’s 2025-26 list of safest places in Illinois to live, tying with Palatine and coming in after Buffalo Grove at No. 18 and Arlington Heights at No. 12.
Naperville was also a stand-out city in the most recent survey by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists, where Naperville ranked No. 4 on the state list of municipalities with the top 10 DUI arrests for 2024. Survey data showed that Naperville police made 258 drunken driving arrests in 2024, a 51.8% increase over the 170 made in 2023.
