Cops To Host Forums Confronting Rise In Crime In Oak Park

OAK PARK, IL — Oak Park has recently been hit with a wave of armed carjackings, burglaries, and other crimes. To confront this ongoing issue, police in Oak Park have organized public forums to meet with residents and discuss safety concerns and share tips to help prevent crime.

According to a post from village officials, police will review crime statistics from 2017. They will also talk about "new dedicated Police social media tools to provide daily crime summaries and investigation update." Many Oak Park residents have recently expressed concerns about delayed crime notifications online, so police may also touch on that issue.

Oak Park Police Chief Anthony Ambrose told the village that patrols have increased, but that residents must stay vigilant to help prevent crime.

“High visibility is a key strategy to prevent crime,” he said in the village's post. “That’s why the numbers of marked cars patrolling our streets and alleys have increased significantly over recent weeks. But plain clothes officers in unmarked police cars are deployed strategically as well to make neighborhoods safer by having officers on the street observing, without being detected."

The village shared that Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said of the ongoing carjacking crimes, "They are random and occurring throughout our Village as well as in neighboring communities. Since the increase in carjackings began in November, I have been working with the Chief, the Mayor and Village Board to ensure the resource needs of the Police Department are met.”

Oak Park Police investigated nearly 20 carjackings in 2017 and made 10 related arrests, according to the village.

Chief Ambrose said of the upcoming forums, “Meeting face-to-face with citizens to candidly answer the hard questions is an essential component of an effective crime-prevention strategy.”

Here's the schedule for Oak Park's upcoming crime forums:

• Tues., Jan. 30 - 6:30 p.m., Oak Park and River Forest High School north cafeteria, 201 N. Scoville Ave.
• Wed., Jan. 31 - 6:30 p.m. Village Hall, 123 Madison St., room 201
• Thurs, Feb. 1 - 6:30 p.m. Main Fire Station, 100 N. Euclid Ave.
• Fri., Feb. 2 - 9:30 a.m., Village Hall, 123 Madison St., room 201

For more information on crime prevention in Oak Park, visit www.oak-park.us/rbo.

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