Block by Block, Oak Park to Analyze Crime

New database to help officers determine local "hot spots."

The Oak Park Police Department will take a new approach to analyzing crime, turning their focus to the hyperlocal level. According to Wednesday Journal, the department will begin tracking crimes in a database broken down by block — roughly 625 in total. Here's WJ: The department typically breaks down its crime statistics by beat, but getting down to the block level will allow them to see where it is most concentrated, which could then affect how officers in each of the eight beats are deployed, [Police Chief Rick] Tanksley said. It's an approach to crime prevention lauded by George Mason University professor David Weisburd, who's crime "hot spot" tracking research has proven effective in places like Sacramento, Calif. and Seattle, Wash. …

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Marijuana Reform: Where Your Elected Officials Stand

Part Two in our series on marijuana possession arrests in Oak Park and River Forest.

Yesterday, we explained some of the statistics behind 19 months worth of marijuana possession arrests in Oak Park and River Forest, rehashed some of the important reporting taking place elsewhere in the Chicago area and invited you to sound off in the comments. Here's the story. Today, you’ll hear from local elected and appointed officials, as well as some other community leaders and advocates. We posed the same question to all of them — Where do you stand on marijuana decriminalization? Here's what they had to say: We’re not talking about cocaine, we’re not talking about heroin. There needs to be an honest debate about the real effect of marijuana use…and whether or not the war on drugs has been effective. I have to venture that it has …

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Gun Shop Draws Concerns Over Safety And Security

Village could look at limits on other shops that want to open in town.

As Windy City Firearms prepares to open its doors and its gun safes as soon as next week, Oak Park officials are considering placing regulations on any new gun stores looking to set up shop. Officials at Tuesday's community meeting at Washington Irving School said they would consider several measures to regulate new stores, including the creation of zoning restrictions and security measures as well as limitations on the number of gun shops within the village's borders. All efforts, they said, would have to meet the constitutional muster that came last year when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Oak Park’s long-standing handgun ban. Earlier: Oak Park Exploring New Gun Rules "Clearly we have much more work to do...within the parameters that …

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Officials: Serious Crime Drops in Oak Park

Officers, residents turn out for crime forum at Oak Park Village Hall.