MM_072017

mokenamessenger.com news
the Mokena Messenger | July 20, 2017 | 11
Taking a walk on the safe side
Officials hear
Frankfort Square
residents’ concerns
over break-ins
Megann Horstead
Freelance Reporter
To help protect residents
of Mokena and Frankfort
from falling victim to the
increase of car burglaries reported
in the area, the Frankfort
Square Park District and
Will County Sheriff’s Office
held a public meeting Thursday,
July 13, to allow people
to meet with officials to discuss
and ask questions.
Since Jan. 1, the Mokena-
Frankfort area has reported
an uptick of approximately
20 car burglaries, according
to the County.
“The numbers are a little
skewed, but I don’t think it’s
that high,” said Dirk Obermayer,
a patrol sergeant for
Will County Sheriff’s Office,
referring to the number
of incidents classified as car
burglaries or other related offenses.
The numbers presented
are comparable to communities
across Will County,
Obermayer said.
Officials looked to clarify
the concerns they have in the
area.
“Someone always has
something [of] value in there
—phone charges, GPS,”
Obermayer said. “Sometimes
people leave their wallets,
purses, backpacks, laptop
bags, workout gym bags.
Those things usually get
taken.”
Typically, car burglaries
are offenses committed by juveniles
who do not belong to
the community in which the
crime occurred, he said. They
enter the community through
highways that lead into the
Frankfort-Mokena area.
Dan Kemp (left) asks Will County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dirk
Obermayer about the local crime in the area July 12 during
a community forum in Frankfort Square.
“As far as it being from in
the community, [it happens]
very rarely,” Obermayer
said. “I think one juvenile
which we did catch, he did
ended up getting caught on a
follow-up interview. He was
from the area.”
Many of these crimes occur
from 3:30-6:30 a.m.,
Obermayer said.
“Those are the new hot
times for burglary of motor
vehicles,” he said. “And,
then when you start talking
about burglaries, people
think it’s the middle of the
night. It’s not.”
Jennifer Jurgovan, of
Frankfort, was one of several
people in attendance for
the public meeting. She said
she became a victim last fall.
“I also did have my car
broken into twice in one
night, and my doors were
locked,” she said. “[I] even
went out a second time and
locked them. You could see
that they jimmied my door
open.”
Jurgovan added that no
property was stolen as a result
of the two early-morning
break-ins.
But many incidents involve
unlocked cars.
“Because you break a window
in these neighborhoods,
people are going to hear it,”
Obermayer said. “It’s all just
keeping those doors locked,
and everybody’s guilty of it.
We got to all try to remember
if you keep valuables in
there, you definitely have to
lock it.”
Reports from the Will
County Sheriff’s Office
show that car burglaries involving
break-ins result in a
pattern that differs from incidents
that do not.
“As far as the actual
smash — people smashing
your windows to get in —
the numbers would be very
small for burglaries to motor
vehicles since January,”
Obermayer said. “I would
say probably even single
digits of people that actually
broken into [vehicles.]”
Some attendees called into
question the Will County
Sheriff’s Office’s response
time to incidents in Frankfort
Square, as well as issues
concerning manpower.
Obermayer acknowledged
the concerns raised and said
that was more of an issue in
the past.
“We have more manpower
east of Cedar [Road]
than Frankfort and Mokena,
combined,” Obermayer said.
“We got deputies on call. We
Jim Gribbin (left) talks with Will County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dirk Obermayer during a
community forum Thursday, June 13, on safety and crime in Frankfort Square. Photos by
Julie McMann/22nd Century Media
Jim Molloy speaks up during the meeting to agree with Obermayer.
got our [tactical] units out
and about. We’re definitely
staffed. Manpower — that
should never be a concern.”
Obermayer credits the
community’s responsiveness
to help curb crime.
“One great things about
this neighborhood and this
community is how tight-knit
everybody is,” he said. “A lot
of people know who belongs,
what vehicles are there. We
get so many suspicious calls.
‘Hey, this car is parked down
the street. It doesn’t belong
here.’ All of this, ‘This red
car has been in this lady’s
driveway. One-hundred percent
she doesn’t own that
car. I don’t think they belong
there.’ [They’re] very proactive,
which we love.”
Obermayer urged people to
call the Will County Sheriff’s
Office, and said there’s never
a dumb reason to call them.
“We much rather come
out for a suspicious car or a
suspicious person than have
to respond to know that you
guys have been victims of a
crime,” he said.