McHenry County Black Drug Arrest Rate Tops Chicagoland

According to statistics from the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, McHenry County has by far the highest drug arrest record rate for blacks.

The arrest rate, measured on a per 1,000 people basis, shows the following:

  • McHenry County – 63
  • Chicago – 39
  • Kane – 17
  • Lake – 9.5
  • Suburban Cook – 9
  • DuPage – 6.6
  • Will – 6

What caught my eye was the graphic in the Chicago Tribune Sunday. The article by Darnell Little is the one on top of the front page.

While the black arrest rate in McHenry County is 63 per 1,000 residents, the rate for whites is 2.5

And check out this paragraph:

“In Illinois, studies show that more than 70 percent of the state’s illicit drug users are white, while 14 percent are black. But 65 percent of arrests for drug offenses are of African-Americans. And 66 percent of inmates in Illinois prisons for drug offenses are black, and Illinois’ incarceration rate of blacks for drug possession is the highest in the country.”

Another fact-filled sentence you might find of interest:

”…a 2003 study by the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Survey Research Laboratory found that rates of illicit drug use in Illinois were in fact essentially equal across racial groups. Nationally, similar results were found by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.”

Anyone have any idea how McHenry County’s drug arrest rate for blacks could be so much higher than anywhere else?


Comments

McHenry County Black Drug Arrest Rate Tops Chicagoland — 1 Comment

  1. It’s most likely due to demographics.

    McHenry County, according to the Census bureau, has approximately 3,000 blacks. This would mean there were approximately 189 arrests, or one every other day.

    Note that it’s not individuals, or residents, but arrests. This means someone coming into the area and being arrested skews the numbers for people living here.

    Compare to Will County, which according to the same site, has approximately 60,000 blacks. That’s 360 arrests in a year. Or Lake County, with approximately 48,000 blacks and 450 arrests.

    We would seem to have less arrests, then. They just get blown out of proportion due to the small population size.

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