Elk Grove Village police responded to three stolen auto reports in six days in a six-day period during January 2017. In each case the stolen vehicle had been left running unattended by a female driver to warm up the vehicle during cold weather. No other links connected the incidents.
A 2013 Chevrolet Spark was stolen from a parking lot in the block of 600 Meacham Road about 12:35 a.m. Thursday, January 12, 2017. The Chevy Spark was the only vehicle that was later recovered.
A 2006 Ford Fusion was stolen from a parking lot in the block of 1100 of Devon Avenue on Friday January 13, 2017. .
A 2016 Kia Sorento was stolen from an apartment parking lot in the block of 900 Charlela Lane on Wednesday January 18, 2017.
At least two vehicles were reported stolen in Schaumburg — also in January.
Illinois law prohibits drivers from leaving vehicles running unattended or with keys in the ignition, during the first week of January a Roseville, Michigan man was cited for leaving his car running and unattended. The fine was $128.
No similar charges have been noted locally, but local police departments advise against leaving a car running unattended. Last week a man was sitting in his car warming up his car on Lexington Drive in Mount Prospect when a man pointed a gun at him and demanded he turn over his Chevy Tahoe.
Warming up your car before driving off in the harsh winter weather may be a common practice but in many places, it could lead to a hefty fine. Just ask Nick Trupiano, who was warming up his car in the freezing cold outside his Roseville, Michigan when he says he was ticketed by police for $128 as the vehicle sat in the driveway. Trupiano claims he had no idea there was a law about idling. “I had no knowledge of it and it seems like others had no knowledge of it either,” he told Inside Edition.
IMPORTANT ALERT …
Cardinal Note: As of June 5, 2013 — up to and including the date of this article — police incidents related to the above police agency are not reported in real time or within a prompt time period. Police protecting their realm of investigation and police activity, have chosen to use secret military-grade encrypted radios to withhold their police communications, which were previously open to the public and news media via monitoring of public safety scanning radios — with no known negative results locally.
The delayed knowledge or entirely blacked out knowledge resulting from encrypted police communications may protect certain police operations and investigations, but it also puts the public at risk in situations such as when armed and dangerous offenders are at large and when other similar situations occur, such as when desperate offenders of property crimes are eluding police. In other cases, the delayed or blacked out information inhibits or prohibits the possibility of the public providing early witness accounts before a criminal trail goes cold. Citizens are much more likely to recognize or recall suspicious or criminal activity if they are aware of the criminal incident within minutes or hours of its occurrence. The most serious incident involving dire results would be a trail that is allowed to go cold in the case of child abduction.
The lack of real time information from public police dispatch also weakens an effective neighborhood watch program mostly working to prevent property loss, but also working to prevent possible violent crimes.
Lack of real time information from police dispatch also delays public awareness or eliminates public awareness of general hazards and traffic or other situations in every day living in an otherwise economically thriving community.
Police have alternate ways to transmit tactical, operational or investigative information, while still keeping their main public dispatch channels open for the best balance of public safety and police safety.
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