Williamson County Sheriffs Department reports surge in calls for service over last three years
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Ill.(KBSI) – The Williamson County Sheriffs Department recently released new data showing that the amount of arrests they’ve made since 2022 has more than doubled.
Williamson County Sheriff Jeff Diederich shares how their doing it and how its impacting the community.
“This is pro-active policing. This doesn’t necessarily mean there’s an increase in crime in the community. Just the apprehension and the identification of the activity that is going on” says Diederich.
According to the department in 2022 Williamson County deputies responded to 24, 455 calls and in 2024 they responded to 34, 093 calls and drug related arrest jumped from just 29 in 2022 to 544 in 2024.
“Our drug arrests in 22 were fairly low your seeing a 1900% increase in the arrest levels in drug related offenses” says Diederich. “Now that activity was going on back in 22 we just didn’t have the man power and the focus that we do today in addressing that and I think to a large degree one of the programs that I started early on in my tenor as sheriff was the creation and development of our narcotics unit which is out on the street everyday.”
Sheriff Diederich shares that pro-active policing is behind the surge not an increase in crime. According to the sheriff his department is out patrolling even when not in response to a call. He says they have several programs that help with pro-active policing such as their ‘cruise lighting program’.
“Where were out driving around at night, during nighttime hours typically from midnight until 5 am where we have our cruise lighting which is where our emergency lights are on but they aren’t isolating they’re just steadily in a low light condition and it allows for people to see that law enforcement was out in the community and can see that from some distance” says Diederich.
Diederich says these arrests and response to calls have a direct impact on crime and the community.
“A safer place for our citizen’s, our families, to raise children, to go to work everyday.”
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