Crime in Coles County: Who's involved and what are they doing?
Welcome to the News Desk! This week, we'll echo the Daily Eastern News' print edition by discussing crime in Coles County as I try to break down and find connections between all the great data our reporters and editors put in their stories.
On the podcast, I'll tell you all about a survey we put together to learn about how safe women feel on Eastern's campus and some interesting conclusions that could be made from the responses.
A Look at Local Crime
Most of the articles on crime which we published this week were put together over the first half of this semester in an advanced reporting class taught by professor Joe Gisondi. This class gave students more time than we usually have to research, interview and get to the bottom of their chosen topics.
Once upon a time, Charleston was called "the meth capitol of Illinois." Despite the town no longer earning that title, data in these articles shows that meth charges are still prevalent in the area. In fact, in his story on felony statistics in Coles County, DEN staff member Ryan Meyer reported that meth possession is the most common felony in Coles County.
Here's an excerpt on the topic:
"Of last year’s 636 felonies, possession of meth in quantities less than five grams was the most common felony by far, accounting for 177 felonies, or roughly 28 percent.
Eighty-eight of the less than five grams meth possession charges came from Mattoon and 55 came from Charleston.
Coles County State’s Attorney Jesse Danley identified the highest percentage of methamphetamine users to be white males, ages 19 to 23."
Read the rest of his article to learn about other common felonies in the area.
Lauren Frick, a journalism major who served as a contributing writer for this issue, wrote an absolute beast of an article covering meth in Coles County from its source to how the county is handling the problem. (Seriously, this is a long article, but it's well worth the read.)
Methamphetamines are typically more prevalent in rural counties like Coles County than in more populated counties like in the Chicago area.
Part of this is because anhydrous ammonia, which can be used to make meth, is a widely used fertilizer to put nitrogen back into soil. Of course, this chemical is easier to find in rural farming communities.
Still, if most farming communities have that access, why are Coles County's case numbers so much higher?
"(Coles County public defender Anthony) Ortega recalled when he first started working in Coles County, many methamphetamine charges were related to manufacturing due to easy access to pseudoephedrine pills and other household items. However, these charges decreased after a law passed that required an ID to purchase the pills.
Ortega says methamphetamine in the area has since transitioned from homemade to 'factory-made' methamphetamine that was introduced by Mexico. This methamphetamine is greater in quantity and potency, and Coles County still experiences easy accessibility due to its proximity to Interstate 57."
These issues are compounded because rural communities often don't have a lot of resources to deal with crime in general, so they don't devote much to rehabilitation programs. However, Coles County has set up a drug court program which has been successful in breaking cycles of addiction.
Studies have found that addiction should be treated as a disease rather than responding to drug use the same way as other crimes. This doesn't mean that legal repercussions shouldn't happen, but incarcerating individuals for drug offenses usually means they won't receive any kind of treatment at all. "Drug court" gives offenders the opportunity to have a conviction dropped from their permanent record.
Not every offender is eligible for the program, but those who get approved by the committee begin a multi-phase process of rehabilitation which includes a sponsor, random testing, counseling and more- read the article for more details.
So meth-related charges are really common in Coles County, but what's the source of crime in the area? There's a long-standing myth that students- specifically those from Chicago- commit most of the crimes in Charleston.
News editor Madelyn Kidd chose to investigate that claim. By going through a huge number of cases one by one, she found that "of the 636 felony cases filed in 2021 in Coles County available on judici.com, only two, 0.3%, list Eastern students as the individual being prosecuted for allegedly committing the felony."
(Many of you may already be aware, but judici.com is a site you can use to access most public information about things like criminal charges, civil judgements, case minutes and more. Journalists use it for a lot of stories like this or as a starting point to find interesting cases worth writing whole articles about.)
"This number didn’t surprise Coles County State’s Attorney Jesse Danley.
Danley said that it wasn’t Eastern students committing crimes today. He said a bump in crimes related to Eastern students happened when the police used to crack down hard on college students drinking underage and college parties where alcohol is involved.
“Eastern students cause far less crime than the locals, absolutely,” Danley said."
Read the article for more information on what those two crimes were and stats from other universities.
Catch up with the news.
Student senate has approved a room and board price increase. This senate's approval doesn't finalize anything, but this price increase is relatively standard each year.
Women's History and Awareness Month awards were presented during the annual ceremony.
A non-traditional, disabled student presented his research on the KKK in Central Illinois. His findings will be added to some local curricula.
Eastern's softball team is currently placed third in its conference behind Murray State and Belmont. The baseball team is at the top of its conference.
Listen to the podcast.
