New statistics from the Illinois State Police show a drop in overall crime from 2021 to 2022 of 6.2 per cent.
State's Attorney Dora Villareal says violent crimes fell 5.6 per cent here in Rock Island County, but increased 52 per cent statewide in Illinois.
"It's just been a group effort, among the courts, law enforcement especially, trying to make sure that we are targeting the repeat offenders, the more serious crimes, the gun crime. Those have been the biggest concern and what we've seen steepest rise in since COVID hit in 2020."
Crime fell in just 16 of the state's 102 counties.
Villareal is also pleased that court backlogs caused by the pandemic have been greatly reduced this year - and are finally close to pre-COVID levels.
"We're finally getting cases done, we're prioritizing the older cases, obviously prioritizing the more serious ones and those that involve people in custody."
And this includes closing 17 murder and attempted murder cases during the past two years.