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The orland park prairie | October 11, 2018 | 9
Orland Park Village Board
Orland Park police accept trio of awards at meeting
Department
recognized for top
distracted driving
awareness program
Jon DePaolis
Freelance Reporter
Orland Police Chief Tim McCarthy and his crew earned
three awards for traffic safety. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA FILE PHOTO
The Orland Park Police
Department was recognized
Monday, Oct. 1, with a slew
of awards for making local
roads safer.
The department was
awarded first place in the
Illinois Traffic Safety Challenge
for the “Municipal 66-
100 Sworn” category. It also
won the Judges Award for
best overall submission by
any department, as well as
an award for having the top
distracted driving awareness
program. Both awards were
based on 2017 performance.
“We were fortunate to win
a number of awards as a result
of our traffic safety program
for the year, which also
included no traffic deaths in
2017,” Orland Park Police
Chief Tim McCarthy said.
Scott Kristiansen, director
of the Illinois Traffic Safety
Challenge, was on-hand to
present three awards to Mc-
Carthy and the Village of Orland
Park Board of Trustees.
“The Illinois Traffic Safety
Challenge is a friendly
competition between likesized
agencies with all the
departments in Illinois,”
Kristiansen said. “This year,
for the 2017 Illinois Traffic
Safety Challenge, the Orland
Park Police Department did
an exceptional job. Some of
you may know that this is
one of the top agencies in
the state of Illinois when it
comes to traffic safety, highway
safety, as well as law
enforcement in general.”
Kristiansen said there are
four main violations that the
Challenge’s organizers attribute
for causing crashes:
impaired driving; speeding;
occupant protection; and
distracted driving.
“It is the enforcement and
the education of those types
of violations that have the
biggest impact on the number
and the severity of fatality
and injury crashes in the
state of Illinois,” he said,
adding that the Traffic Safety
Challenge encompasses a
lot of different criteria — but
“it’s not who writes the most
tickets — not by a longshot.”
“To win this award, you
have to have comprehensive
traffic safety program
[encompassing] policies and
procedures, training, recognition,
enforcement, public
education and information,
and a data-driven approach
to the traffic safety programs
that you have,” he said.
Round it up
A brief recap of action from the Monday, Oct. 1
meeting of the Orland Park Village Board
• In a 6-0 vote, board members approved a
request from CTM Group to allow for four automatic
amusement devices inside Orland Square Mall.
According to the mayor, they are for children’s rides.
Trustee Patricia Gira was absent.
• In another 6-0 vote, trustees approved an increase in
the number of Class C liquor licenses from nine to 10.
This allows for a license to be given to Sophia’s House
of Pancakes, 7110 W. 159th St.
• During the board comments, Trustee Dan
Calandriello announced the birth of his son, Daniel.
Kristiansen also said a
traffic safety program would
not be as successful without
the support it has received
from the Village Board and
community members. Last
year, [the state of Illinois]
had over 1,000 highway fatalities,
“We’re hoping this year
to get that under 1,000. Programs
such as this, that are
models for agencies across
the state, are going to help us
reach that.”
Mayor Keith Pekau said
he believes the Orland Park
Police Department is the best
in the state. He credited it to
McCarthy’s leadership, as
well as the work of the commanders
and officers employed
by the department.
“Thanks again for all of
your hard work,” Pekau said.
Mayor floats commission
considerations
Later during the meeting,
Pekau mentioned that he
received feedback from the
Village’s various commission
members expressing
their desire to do more for
the Village.
“They want something
a little bit more meaty,”
Pekau said. “Some of the
ideas that have been floated
would probably result
in a little bit of a culture
change, and a little bit of
a shift in the mentality of
how we utilize our commissions.”
Pekau said he felt it would
be a great idea.
“Because we want to utilize
as much of their expertise
as possible,” he said.
“Some of those ideas include
for the parks advisory
board to look at the fields
that we just had a report
on.”
He said the park advisory
board at one time looked
over the structure of the
field rental fees and scheduling.
Pekau also said some
of the technology commission
members had process
improvement backgrounds,
and that they could be helpful
in joining some of the
Village’s high performance
organization teams to lend
some expertise and feedback.
“It doesn’t cost us anything,
and it brings some
expertise to the table,” Pekau
said.
Trustee James Dodge said
if there was an opportunity
to improve processes or
technological efficiencies,
the board should take advantage
of it.
“I’d welcome the idea to
have them give us some additional
ideas and input,” he
said.
Other trustees, however,
weren’t as keen on the idea.
“My concern is that not
only would it be a culture
shift but it would be potentially
a complete violation
of the council manager form
of government,” Trustee
Michael Carroll said.
No formal proposals were
made or voted on.
election
From Page 5
Village president and as a Village
trustee in Olympia Fields. District
38 represents portions of Frankfort
and Tinley Park.
General Assembly District 80
Democrat Anthony DeLuca, of
Chicago Heights, is running uncontested.
DeLuca served as the
mayor of Chicago Heights for
six years and also served on the
Bloom Township High School
District 206 Board of Education.
District 80 represents portions of
Frankfort, New Lenox and Mokena.
Cook County Board District 6
Democrat Donna Miller will
run uncontested in Cook County
Board District 6. Miller is a member
of the League of Women Voters.
She also serves on the board
of Planned Parenthood of Illinois,
and is second vice-president of
Illinois Democratic Women. She
was a candidate for State Senator
2012. District 6 represents portions
of Tinley Park, Orland Park,
Orland Hills and Orland Township.
State House District 85
Democrat John Connor, an incumbent
candidate and resident
of Lockport, is to run uncontested
in the 85th State House District.
Connor has served in his role with
District 85 since June 24, 2017. His
Republican opponent Lisa Bickus,
also of Lockport, withdrew in late
August, according to the Illinois
State Board of Elections. State
House District 85 represents portions
of Lockport.
In the next two weeks, The Orland
Park Prairie will feature candidate
questionnaires for contested
races with interests pertaining to
the southwest suburbs.
As is the case each election season,
it is 22nd Century Media’s
policy not to run any electionrelated
coverage in the final issue
— in this case Thursday, Nov. 1 —
before Election Day. 22nd Century
Media reminds that all election-related
Letters to the Editor must be
received by 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct.
18, for inclusion in the Oct. 25 issue
of the Prairie.