The Batavia Police has released their 2025 annual report and it was definitely a challenging year.
We had truly horrific and rare major crime cases including an officer involved shooting, a murder, finally a widespread and ongoing case involving a local chiropractor we can’t outline due to publishing restrictions.
However, we still had numerical reductions in overall crime and traffic incidents.
Outline of the stats for this challenging year is below.
Calls for Service & Incidents
The overall volume of calls for service and proactive police activity increased in 2025, though formal case report documentation declined.
- The total number of police interactions handled in 2025 was 19,186.
- This represents a 6.3% increase from the previous year.
- The department responded to 8,606 dispatched calls for service.
- Another 10,580 calls were on-view activity initiated by officers, which includes traffic offenses, business checks, and investigating suspicious activity.
- Despite the higher volume of calls, formal Case Reports dropped to 2,158 in 2025 from 2,438 in 2024.
Crime Statistics
Overall crime rates improved, showing notable declines across most major categories, though a few specific areas saw increases.
- Total crimes decreased from 742 in 2024 to 622 in 2025.
- Crimes Against Persons improved, falling from 254 to 193. This included a notable drop in Assault Offenses from 245 to 184.
- Crimes Against Property improved, dropping from 471 to 400. While Fraud Offenses dropped from 156 to 118 , Larceny/Theft offenses worsened slightly, increasing from 137 to 157.
- Crimes Against Society worsened slightly, increasing from 17 to 29. This was driven by increases in Pornography/Obscene Material (5 to 14) and Drug/Narcotic Offenses (6 to 13).
Traffic Crashes & Enforcement
Traffic safety showed general improvement in total vehicle crashes, heavily supported by targeted grant-funded enforcement, though vulnerable road user accidents increased.
- Total traffic crashes improved, decreasing from 671 to 643.
- Roadway crashes improved from 515 to 474, though private property crashes worsened slightly from 156 to 169.
- Pedestrian and pedalcyclist crashes both worsened, with pedestrian crashes increasing to 11 and pedalcyclist crashes increasing to 7.
- The top crash location for 2025 was 31 and Fabyan and Kirk and Fabyan with 19 accidents each.
- The department utilized IDOT mini and STEP grants to conduct 331.75 hours of dedicated traffic enforcement over eight campaigns.
- These campaigns resulted in 343 traffic stops, 317 citations (58% for speeding), 7 DUI arrests, and 10 criminal arrests.
Use of Force
The frequency of use-of-force incidents improved, representing a tiny fraction of overall interactions, and mostly involved low-level control tactics.
- Batavia Officers encountered resistance in 15 incidents in 2025, an improvement from 17 incidents in 2024 and 24 in 2023.
- Use of force accounted for approximately 0.078% of all 19,186 law enforcement interactions.
- The overwhelming majority of cases involved low-level arm/wrist controls. In 2025, this specific type of force (Compliance/Hold/Hands) was used 8 times.
- Higher-level force included Taser deployments (3 times) and a firearm discharged (1 time).
- Each of the 15 incidents was found to be compliant with state law.
Community Relations & Transparency
The department experienced a year of growth in community engagement with a reimagined program, extensive deployments of a new comfort dog, and extremely low complaint rates.
- Freedom of Information Act requests increased from 554 to 587. Eligible records are subject to redaction by FOIA officers per state law.
- 2025 was the first full year of the reimagined Community Relations Program, featuring events like Coffee with a Cop, Cones with a Cop, and National Night Out.
- River, the department’s new Comfort Dog, completed her first full year of service with over 124 hours of deployment.
- River’s deployments were broken down into 32% Community Relations Events, 14% Mutual Aid, 4% BPD Calls for Service, and 50% “Other” events like hospital and dispatch center visits.
- Citizen complaints remained exceptionally low, with only two complaints (0.01% of calls) filed in 2025, both of which were investigated and determined to be unfounded.
Investigations & Major Cases
The Investigations Unit maintained a strong clearance rate while handling complex and severe cases, as well as conducting background compliance checks.
- Detectives were assigned 321 cases requiring follow-up. They closed 254 cases (including 80 closed pending further leads) and achieved a clearance rate of 68.5%.
- The unit also completed 22 Liquor License backgrounds and 206 Solicitor and Peddler backgrounds, resulting in 8 compliance violations.
- The department managed 11 total opioid cases, featuring 10 Narcan deployments, 4 Narcan saves, and zero deaths.
- Major Cases: * Officer-Involved Shooting (August): Officers safely extracted two juveniles from an apartment before a suicidal suspect opened fire with a rifle; the suspect was later found deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
- Homicide (December): A male suspect was charged with First Degree Murder after killing his wife in their apartment.
- CSAM Investigation (September): Following a CyberTip, a local chiropractic business owner was charged with secretly recording over 180 patients, including children, with hidden cameras.
- Attempted Home Invasion (March) & Unlawful Restraint (April): Both involved armed or barricaded subjects that were successfully taken into custody by patrol and SWAT officers.
Personnel, Training & Operations
The department emphasized rigorous training hours and managed evidence securely while bringing on new staff.
- Following the retirement of Chief Shawn Mazza after 26 years of service, five new officers were hired throughout 2025.
- The 43 sworn officers completed a total of 3,291 hours of professional training (averaging 76.5 hours each).
- Training was broken down into 48.6% External, 32.8% Online, and 18.6% In-House.
- 88.4% of the officers are Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) certified, and 81.4% are trained in Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (A.R.I.D.E.).
- The Evidence Room handled the intake of 1,596 items and the disposal of 934 items, and collected 799 pounds of unwanted medication from the public lobby drop-box.
Future Items for Next Year
Based on the report’s forward-looking statements and ongoing activities, the following items are likely to be points of focus for the upcoming year:
- Continued, aggressive pursuit of federal and state grant funding to adopt new technologies, enhance traffic enforcement, and minimize local financial burdens.
- Further integration and training regarding the newly implemented PepperBall Launcher to enhance less-lethal force options and officer safety during critical incidents.
- Continued pursuit of active investigations carrying over from 2025, specifically the major Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) cases and the 67 standard cases that remain open.
- Ongoing utilization and potential expansion of the Community Relations Program and Comfort Dog deployments to further build regional cooperation and community trust.
Author: Jim Fahrenbach
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