The Naperville Police Department issued 52 seat belt citations during the recent Halloween enforcement effort. Law enforcement agencies throughout Illinois participated in this drive to save lives by getting impaired drivers off the roads and more vehicle occupants buckled up. The enforcement campaign took place from October 17 through November
By Jason Crane As the U. S. presidential debate, was being heard around the Nation and parts of the world, Thursday, Oct. 22, feelings of frustration and the need for answers filled Main Baptist Church in Aurora at the third community listening session for the C.H.A.N.G.E. (community helping Aurora’s necessary
The Aurora Police have arrested and charged two men as a result of an extensive investigation into a shooting incident that occurred on October 3rd on the city’s southeast side. October 3, at approximately 5:48 p.m. Aurora Police responded to the 1400 block of Farington Lane for the report of
Aurora resident Mark Zelman addresses the first of five community listening sessions on policing and city progress Thursday, Oct. 8 at New England Congregational Church.
The North Aurora Police Department is excited to announce a new pilot program to provide a social worker as a resource to our community to help address issues that are not always criminal in nature. This is an expansion of a longstanding partnership between our Department and the Association for
By John W. Whitehead The U.S. Supreme Court will not save us. It doesn’t matter which party gets to pick the replacement to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. The battle that is gearing up right now is yet more distraction and spin to keep
Naperville Police were called to the 300 block of Washington Street at approximately 5:17 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, for a report of an armed robbery. Responding officers were informed that the juvenile victim was sitting with friends in Fredenhagen Park when an unknown male approached him, pointed what appeared to
By Emily Ochoa McDonald Over the last few weeks at the Aurora City Hall, a series of public sessions called the C.H.A.N.G.E. (Community Helping Auroras Necessary Growth and Empowerment), a reform initiative, were held to discuss the use of force and training policies the Aurora Police Department use. The public
We at the Aurora (Illinois) Police Department received a number of messages and telephone calls today from the community with concerns about a video of a traffic stop that has appeared on the news and social media. We immediately looked into the incident and determined it did not occur in
By John W. Whitehead “I don’t need invitations by the state, state mayors, or state governors, to do our job. We’re going to do that, whether they like us there or not.” —Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf’s defense of the Donald Trump Administration’s deployment of militarized federal police to
This year is but half over and we have witnessed some of the greatest policing challenges of our lifetime already. The COVID-19 pandemic struck early in the year and disrupted every American at work, at home, and at play. The lockdown resulted in unique challenges to our first responders, especially
Friday evening, a media report from NBC 5 in Chicago incorrectly identified Police Chief Kristen Ziman and the Aurora Illinois Police Department in a situation involving the Aurora Colorado Police Department. The story was about the firing of Aurora, Co. police officers after they mocked the death of an Aurora,
Aurora Police received the call for a missing 13-year-old around 10 p.m. Sunday. Officers responded to the area and started investigating. We began a large search utilizing our officers, our drone team and a bloodhound K-9, as well. At approximately 8:40 a.m., Monday, Aurora Police Department dispatch received a call
Police brutality is a fact of life. It has been around ever since police agencies were created to enforce the laws and to protect the citizens from criminal activity. In every nation-state, in every era, one will find numerous instances of how ill-trained police officers enforced the laws, sometimes inventing
After the police-involved killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Rayshard Brooks, bipartisan legislative efforts to work on much needed policing reforms, have hit a snag. Despite nationwide momentum, voting 55-45, US. Senate Democrats blocked a Republican bill that would address some policing practices, including the use of force and
By John W. Whitehead “Violence creates many more social problems than it solves…. If they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless
In a recent column, I averred that the George Floyd death and protests-in-reaction represented a classic case of the powerful “us versus them” syndrome that is baked into the human brain. Racism is a subset of this syndrome. Floyd’s brother gave recent testimony to Congress that was in effect a
By Rebecca Anzel The structural change demanded by protestors around Illinois will come from nonviolent demonstrations coupled with policy reforms, governor JB Pritzker said Tuesday. Speaking at a blended-income housing development in Chicago called KLEO Art Residences, the governor said “community activism and peaceful organizing and faith” are the keys
Sunday evening a quiet confrontation outside of Aurora City Hall between Aurora Police and protesters later turned into a riot with damage to businesses.
By Steve Chirico, Naperville mayor “What happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis is unconscionable. What happened to Christian Cooper in New York’s Central Park is unconscionable. And what’s happened here in recent months in Naperville is unconscionable. “We cannot let these events be relegated to just another name, another page
