The Village of Oak Park | 123 Madison St.  Oak Park, IL 60302 | village@oak-park.us

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Police to host community meetings

Dec. 1, 2017 – Oak Park residents are invited to join Police Chief Anthony Ambrose and members of his command staff in a discussion about crime in the community.

Two sessions are planned to accommodate residents’ schedules – 7 p.m., Thurs., Dec. 7 and 9:30 a.m., Fri., Dec. 8. Both sessions will be held in the council chamber of Village Hall, 123 Madison St.

While Police are stressing the importance of having face-to-face discussions, the Dec. 7 meeting will be streamed live and archived via a link at www.oak-park.us/commissiontv. The meeting also will be cablecast on VOP-TV, which available to Comcast subscribers on channel 6 and AT&T subscribers on channel 99.

The meetings were scheduled in response to a recent, much-publicized attempted carjacking here. Police say the incident may be part of a wave of similar incidents involving teenaged offenders that have occurred throughout the Chicagoland area, from the Loop to the north and western suburbs.

With area crime often crossing jurisdictional boundaries, Oak Park Police routinely work closely with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office and other law enforcement agencies. But citizen involvement is critical to preventing crime and catching criminals, according to Ambrose.

“I can’t stress enough the importance of residents and law enforcement working together,” he said. “We live in an urban environment where a single incident can cause citizens to question their safety. It is at these times that police and the community must come even closer together by sharing timely information and looking out for one another. Together, I know we can continue to keep this community safe.”

Ambrose said that nearly 90 percent of all crime in Oak Park is against property, primarily garage burglaries and bicycle thefts. But sharing a border with the nation’s third largest city means that violent crimes do sometimes occur in Oak Park.

“Statistics don’t mean much to the victim of a crime,” he said. “That’s why Oak Park Police continually strive to help residents feel safe by providing them the information they need to play a vital role in our crime-fighting initiatives."

The best defense against crime, he said, is to try to avoid being an easy target. A list of crime prevention tips is posted on the Village website.

More information on the Oak Park’s approach to community policing is posted online at www.oak-park.us/police.