Businesses urged to keep registers unlocked, with no cash, during overnight hours

by BRIAN NADIG

The 16th (Jefferson Park) Police District is urging businesses to take extra precautions due to a recent uptick in commercial burglaries, especially at restaurants and taverns, although the overall number of break-ins is down this year in the district.

Merchants should consider keeping cash registers unlocked, with no money inside them, when their businesses are closed, captain Felipe Reyes said at the Sept. 19 meeting of the 16th District Advisory Committee. Keeping registered unlocked can reduce the amount of vandalism sustained during a burglary, he said.

Businesses also are urged to have safes and automatic teller cash machines secured to the floor. In some recent burglaries, thieves have stolen entire ATMs, placing the in vehicles and driving away.

In many of the incidents, a group of masked men have been captured on surveillance cameras using a hammer-like device to break a glass door or window and entering a businesses. In the district, several restaurants have been burglarized twice in recent months.

Proceeds range from a few dollars to as much as about $15,000. In some instances, merchandise also is taken.

The number of commercial and residential burglaries reported in the district through Oct. 6 is 241, compared to 250 during the same period in 2023, representing an approximate 4-percent reduction.

In the 28 days prior to Oct. 6, the number of burglaries was 34 compared to 25 last year. Statistics on just commercial burglaries were not immediately available.

The district is implementing burglary missions along the commercial corridors to help deter break-ins. The burglaries typically are occurring between 2 and 5 a.m.

Businesses are asked to register emergency contact information with the district in the event of an after-hours burglary or other problem. For more information, call the district’s community policing office at 312-742-4521.

In addition, the district has been experiencing fewer robberies in recent weeks, as nine have been reported in the past month (through Oct. 6) compared to 19 during the same period in 2023.

The district will be holding a series of “Faith and Blue” events with churches in October. They include a special service honoring first responders at 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at Edison Park Lutheran Church, 6626 N. Oliphant Ave.

It also was reported that the committee is continuing its efforts to restart the district’s peer jury, which last operated before the pandemic. Currently only one district in the city reportedly has an active peer jury, which is a panel of teens who decide punishment for minor offenses committed by juveniles.

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