Village of Hazel Crest, IL

Methodology

Hazel Crest Zone Information

The subdivisions and neighborhoods that make up the Village of Hazel Crest are divided into three zones. Please see the zone breakdown below.

Zone 1: Hazel Crest Proper

Zone 2: Twin Creeks, Pottawattamie Hills, Highlands, Appletree, English Valley

Zone 3: Pace Setter, Stonebridge, Carriage Hills, Chateaux, Stone Creek, Village West, Dynasty Lakes

The following map shows the zone sub-divisions.

Data Sources and Collection

Available data supporting this website comes from Hazel Crest’s E-COM 9-1-1 Dispatch Center. This data is collected using Motorola’s Flex Data Exchange Application Programming Interface (API) and processed for the website via the Data for Community Trust Pipeline which runs an Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) process on the raw data to support visualizations on the website. The data pipeline automatically refreshes each night at 12:00AM Central Time (CT) and takes roughly 11 minutes to run.

Calls for Service Data

Calls for Service visualizations use available data from Hazel Crest’s E-COM 9-1-1 database via the Data for Community Trust Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) Data Pipeline. The visualizations are based on the derived tables listed below. Data available for download is from 2005 onwards.

Calls for Service: Location information and additional details for dispatched calls.
Incidents: Location information and additional details for incidents.
Officer Radio Log: Time stamped records of communication between dispatch and officers.

Average Response Time by Call Priority

The average response time is calculated by filtering calls for service received by the Hazel Crest Police Department in person, by 911, or by telephone that required a police response. The time each incident's first responding officer arrives on scene is determined, then subtracted from the time the call was originally logged. This difference gives the response time for each incident. The average response time by call priority is then obtained by grouping by call priority and calculating the median of these individual response times across all incidents.

Average Time on Scene by Call Priority

The average time on scene is calculated by taking the time logged by officers when they arrive on scene and subtracting that from the time they mark themselves off the scene. The average time on scene by call priority is then obtained by grouping by call priority and calculating the median of the time on scene across incidents.

Average Time on Scene by Call Type

The average time on scene is calculated by taking the time logged by officers when they arrive on scene and subtracting that from the time they mark themselves off the scene. The average time on scene by call type is then obtained by grouping by call type and calculating the median of the time on scene across incidents.

Calls for Service Type Categorization

The raw data from the Hazel Crest Police Department includes over 400 different call types that are assigned by the dispatcher based on the call's preliminary nature. For ease of use and understanding for residents, each of these call types is assigned one of the following seven groups for the visualizations on this website.

Alarm: Calls initiated by the activation of an alarm of a vehicle, residence, business, or other premise.
Assist: Calls for medical or fire first-responders and other partner agencies and community responders such as social services.
Civil: Calls related to non-criminal matters where police presence is requested to ensure the situation does not escalate such as domestic disturbance, missing person, or dispute.
Crime: Calls related to activity that may be defined as criminal such as assault, battery, or burglary.
Disorder: Calls related to disturbances that require a police response to assess and resolve the situation such as suspicious auto, disturbance, or noise complaint.
Traffic: Calls related to motor vehicle collisions, road hazards, impaired drivers, or traffic stops.
Other: Calls that do not fall under other categories such as a 911 hangup, request to speak to an officer, or locked out of residence. Includes follow-up activities for prior calls and administrative activities.

Crime Data

Crime visualizations uses available data from Hazel Crest’s E-COM 9-1-1 database via the Data for Community Trust Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) Data Pipeline. The visualizations are based on the derived tables listed below. Data available for download is from 2006 onwards.

Offense: Location information and additional details about crime-related offenses.
Crime Rate: Trailing 12-month calculations for crime rate per 1,000 people.
Offender: Demographics information related to reported offenders.
Victim: Demographics information related to reported victims of crime.
Arrests: Demographics information related to arrested offenders.

Crime Rate Over Time

The crime rate per 1,00 people is calculated using the number of crimes reported in Hazel Crest, IL per 1,000 people for the most recent 12 months and then estimating what the crime rate would be for a full year based on the prior 12 months. This is also referred to as a trailing 12-month annualized crime rate. This method provides a more current view of crime trends than just looking at the previous calendar year, allowing for more timely adjustments in crime prevention and law enforcement strategies.

Crime Type Categorization

The Hazel Crest Police Department’s local offense codes were mapped to codes used in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for law enforcement agencies. For ease of use and understanding for residents, each of these crime types is assigned one of the following six groups (Disorderly Conduct, Financial Crimes, Physical or Sexual Violence, Property and Theft-Related Crimes, Substance-related Crimes, Other Crimes) for the visualizations on this website. Please refer to the Guide to Understanding NIBRS website for more information.

Disorderly Conduct: Behavior that disrupts public peace or decorum, disturbs other people or endangers public safety such as violating curfew, loitering, and vagrancy.
Financial Crimes: Activity by a person or group that involves fraudulent or dishonest behavior for personal financial gain such as bribery, counterfeiting, and embezzlement.
Physical or Sexual Violence: Assault or threats to inflict bodily harm or death on another person including assault, sexual assault, and rape.
Property and Theft-Related Crimes: The intentional destruction or defacement of property, or the unlawful taking of money or property, such as burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
Substance-related Crimes: The possession, use, distribution, manufacture of illegal substances or drugs and offenses in which a substance’s influence contribute to an incident such as Driving under the influence (DUI) and drunkenness.
Other Crimes: Crimes that do not fall under the categories above such as animal cruelty, bond default and perjury.

Crime Demographic Data

Offender: Demographics information related to reported offenders.
Victim: Demographics information related to reported victims of crime.
Arrests: Demographics information related to arrested offenders.

General Demographics

The following demographics are displayed for victims, offenders, and arrests.

Race: Race is recorded as a public safety professional’s perception. Ethnicity is not used in the reports.
Sex: Sex is recorded as it is indicated on a driver’s license or government issued form of identification. Gender is not used in the reports.
Age: Age is recorded as it is indicated on a driver’s license or government issued form of identification.
For more information on the most recent census numbers, please visit the United States Census Bureau QuickFacts website page for Hazel Crest Village, Illinois.

Traffic Stops Data

The Traffic Stops page uses available data from the E-COM 9-1-1 database via the Data for Community Trust ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) Pipeline. The visualizations are based on the derived table ‘Traffic Stops’ containing location information for traffic stops. Data available for download is from 2005 onwards.

Use of Force Data

The Use of Force page uses available data provided by Hazel Crest Police Department in a static report containing details about use of force incidents from January 1, 2020 onwards. This data was last updated on December 1, 2024.

This dataset does not exist in the Spillman Flex System database, and so cannot be programmatically updated. Any data updates are directly collected from the Hazel Crest Police Department.

Use of Force Demographic Data

This dataset does not exist in the Spillman Flex System database, and so cannot be programmatically updated. Any data updates are directly collected from the Hazel Crest Police Department.

General Demographics

The following demographics are displayed for civilians involved in use of force incidents.

Race: Race is recorded as a public safety professional’s perception. Ethnicity is not used in the reports.
Sex: Sex is recorded as it is indicated on a driver’s license or government issued form of identification. Gender is not used in the reports.
Age: Age is recorded as it is indicated on a driver’s license or government issued form of identification.
For more information on the most recent census numbers, please visit the United States Census Bureau QuickFacts website page for Hazel Crest Village, Illinois.

Data Cleaning and Processing

The following steps are taken to clean and process the raw available data to ensure they are in a consistent and usable format for use in visualizations in accordance with the Privacy Policy

All datasets are structured to reduce redundant data and de-duplicated.
Multiple datasets are joined to one another on a case by case basis to support specific visualizations on the website.
All personal identifiable information (PII) is deidentified during the data extraction process.
Locations of domestic, medical, and mental health calls are removed from the data used for the website per the Privacy Principles.
All details regarding juveniles involved in any incidents are redacted to obscure sensitive information per the Privacy Principles.
Officer information is redacted to obscure identifiable information per the Privacy Principles.

Handling of Missing or Incomplete Data

Limitations due to missing or incomplete data are annotated in the text alongside applicable visualizations. Where it is not possible to create visualizations due to missing data, this is indicated via statements in place of visualizations. Missing or incomplete data includes:

Latitude and longitude values for some reported incidents.
Demographic information for victims, offenders, arrests, and civilians involved in traffic stops and use of force incidents.
Details related to traffic stops such as reason for search and outcome data.

Data Analysis

The following statistical methods are used:

Average: Calculating the central or typical value that represents the dataset by dividing the sum of values in the set by their number.
Counts: Tallying occurrences within the data, such as the number of times a particular event or characteristic appears.
Median: Identifying the middle value in a set of numbers.
Percent: Used to understand the relative size of a subgroup in comparison to a whole.
Rates: A measure expressed per unit (such as 1000 or per 100,000), to help in understanding the frequency or likelihood of events.

Analytical methods used:

Linear Regression: Applying a linear equation to observed data to predict the value of one variable based on the value of another variable. This helps in understanding the relationship between two variables.
Time Series Analysis: A series of data points ordered in time to identify patterns, trends, and seasonal variations.

Software or programming languages used:

R and Python: Primary tools used to process, conduct statistical analysis, and create data sets to support the visualizations.

Data Visualization

Custom front-end code and libraries are used to create and display data visualizations for the recent activity sections of the website, and for the Use of Force historical map and table visualizations. These libraries include:

Leaflet
Material to build User Interfaces (MUI)
ApexCharts.js

Tableau Public is used as the dominant tool to create and display data visualizations for historical data.

Data Limitations

Data on this site represents available data that has been digitized by Hazel Crest Police Department. The police department may also keep paper records which are not reflected in the data or visualizations provided on the website.

Officers and administrators may sometimes go back to records and make updates/ changes. The data included on this site may not include all updates due to the potential lag in digitizing updated records and refreshing.
This website only displays reported crimes, which do not account for all crimes that take place.

Complete Glossary of Terms

General Terms

Age: Age is recorded as it is indicated on a driver’s license or government issued form of identification.
Historical Activity: Refers to past years for which data is available. Please note data availability and completeness varies by year.
Incident Number: A unique identifier for incident records.
Nature of Incident: Additional details about an incident logged by the police officer.
Race: Race is recorded as a public safety professional’s perception. Ethnicity is not used in the reports.
Recent Activity: Refers to the most recent day (12:00am to 11:59pm CT) for which data is available.
Sex: Sex is recorded as it is indicated on a driver’s license or government issued form of identification. Gender is not used in the reports.

Calls for Service

Average Response Time: The number of minutes, on average, between when a dispatcher logs a call and when the first officer arrives on scene.
Average Time on Scene: The number of minutes, on average, spent by responding police officers on the scene of an incident.
Call Priority Levels:
- 1-Critical: Events that are in progress where persons or high-value property are in immediate danger. Requires a multiple unit response or multiple groups of officers.
- 2-High: Not in progress and requires one officer, dispatched on the radio.
- 3-Medium: Not in progress and requires one officer, silently dispatched to the officer through the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.
- 4-Low: Not in progress and requires one officer, silently dispatched to the officer through the CAD system, and may be held for an available unit with command staff approval.
Call Types: the raw available data from the Hazel Crest Police Department includes over 400 different call types that are assigned by the dispatcher based on the call's preliminary nature. For ease of use and understanding for residents, each of these call types is assigned one of the following seven groups for the visualizations on this website.
- Alarm: Calls initiated by the activation of an alarm of a vehicle, residence, business, or other premise.
- Assist: Calls for medical or fire first-responders and other partner agencies and community responders such as social services.
- Civil: Calls related to non-criminal matters where police presence is requested to ensure the situation does not escalate such as domestic disturbance, missing person, or dispute.
- Crime: Calls related to activity that may be defined as criminal such as assault, battery, or burglary.
- Disorder: Calls related to disturbances that require a police response to assess and resolve the situation such as suspicious auto, disturbance, or noise complaint.
- Traffic: Calls related to motor vehicle collisions, road hazards, impaired drivers, or traffic stops.
- Other: Calls that do not fall under other categories such as a 911 hangup, request to speak to an officer, or locked out of residence. Includes follow-up activities for prior calls and administrative activities.
Calls for Service: A request for police assistance that resulted in a police response. Most calls for service originate when a resident dials an emergency number such as 911 or a nonemergency number for the local police department. Other calls for service can originate from police officers or alarms. The calls for service displayed on this website are those that resulted in a police response.

Crime

Arrest: Occurs when police officers either issues a “Citation and Notice” form or takes a suspect into custody.
Crime: Reported incidents with violations of law.
Crime Rate over Time: This is a calculation of reported crimes in Hazel Crest, IL per 1,000 people.
Crime Types: The Hazel Crest Police Department’s local offense codes were mapped to codes used in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for law enforcement agencies. For ease of use and understanding for residents, each of these crime types is assigned one of the following six groups (Disorderly Conduct, Financial Crimes, Physical or Sexual Violence, Property and Theft-Related Crimes, Substance-related Crimes, Other Crimes) for the visualizations on this website. Please refer to the Guide to Understanding NIBRS website for more information.
- Disorderly Conduct: Behavior that disrupts public peace or decorum, disturbs other people or endangers public safety such as violating curfew, loitering, and vagrancy.
- Financial Crimes: Activity by a person or group that involves fraudulent or dishonest behavior for personal financial gain such as bribery, counterfeiting, and embezzlement.
- Physical or Sexual Violence: Assault or threats to inflict bodily harm or death on another person including assault, sexual assault, and rape.
- Property and Theft-Related Crimes: The intentional destruction or defacement of property, or the unlawful taking of money or property, such as burglary, motor vehicle theft, and arson.
- Substance-related Crimes: The possession, use, distribution, manufacture of illegal substances or drugs and offenses in which a substance’s influence contribute to an incident such as Driving under the influence (DUI) and drunkenness.
- Other Crimes: Crimes that do not fall under the categories above such as animal cruelty, bond default and perjury.
Offender: Person accused or suspected of being responsible of a crime.
Outcome: The last reported status of an incident. This is also referred to as a disposition. A police report disposition is a code that indicates the status of a case. View more information on disposition types below:
- Cleared by Adult Arrest: An officer has taken an individual aged 18 years or older into custody and no further follow-up is needed.
- Cleared by Juvenile Arrest: An officer has taken an individual aged younger than 18 years into custody and no further follow-up is needed.
- Pending Investigation: The case is active and requires additional action or follow-up. Law enforcement may be conducting additional investigations, future hearings may be scheduled, and no final determination has been made in the case.
- Closed Administratively: Cases that do not require any follow-up.
- Inactive: Criminal cases in which there are no leads.
- Information Only: A police report is taken for documentation purposes.
Victim: A person who has suffered physical, emotional, or financial harm as a result of a crime.

Crime Demographics

See Crime Glossary and General Terms.

Traffic Stops

Traffic Stop: When a police officer temporarily detains a driver and their passengers to investigate a minor violation or potential crime. They are also known as being pulled over.

Use of Force

Conducted Energy Weapons (CEW): The use of a battery-powered, handheld device that uses electricity to temporarily incapacitate a person. CEWs are also known as tasers or stun guns and are a less-lethal alternative to firearms.
Deadly Force: Any action which is likely to cause great bodily harm, including the firing of a firearm in the direction of a person, even if there is no intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm.
Intermediate Weapon: A weapon which is used to bridge the gap between empty-hand control methods/techniques and the use of deadly force. Intermediate weapons can include pepper spray or batons.
Juvenile: Any person under the age of 18.
Officer Initiated Call: An incident reported by a police officer based on their observations or assignment.
Outcome: The last reported status of an incident. This is also referred to as a disposition. A police report disposition is a code that indicates the status of a case. View more information on disposition types below:
- Cleared by Adult Arrest: An officer has taken an individual aged 18 years or older into custody and no further follow-up is needed.
- Cleared by Juvenile Arrest: An officer has taken an individual aged younger than 18 years into custody and no further follow-up is needed.
- Pending Investigation: The case is active and requires additional action or follow-up. Law enforcement may be conducting additional investigations, future hearings may be scheduled, and no final determination has been made in the case.
- Closed Administratively: Cases that do not require any follow-up.
- Inactive: Criminal cases in which there are no leads.
- Information Only: A police report is taken for documentation purposes.
Physical Force: Any use or force which causes an injury to a person which results in medical treatment, or the use of intermediate weapons other than CEWs. Intermediate weapons can include pepper spray or batons.
Recent Activity: For use of force, data is not available in a digital format to provide daily updates about Use of Force incidents in Hazel Crest, IL. Data available for this website was provided by the Hazel Crest Police Department in a static report of Use of Force incidents from January 1, 2020 onwards. This data was last updated on December 1, 2024.
Use of Force: Incidents where police reported an “amount of effort” by police officers to compel compliance by an unwilling subject.

Use of Force Demographics

See Use of Force Glossary and General Terms.

Sources

The following source was used to map the Hazel Crest Police Department’s local offense codes to codes used in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) for law enforcement agencies in the Crime page of this website.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), A Guide to Understanding NIBRS, https://ucr.fbi.gov/nibrs/2012/resources.

The following source was used to provide the most recent census numbers for the Village of Hazel Crest, Illinois for the Crime Demographics and Use of Force Demographics page of this website.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts-Hazel Crest Village, Illinois, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/hazelcrestvillageillinois.