Neighborhood Watch Quick - Berwyn Police Department

Neighborhood Watch
City of Berwyn
Mayor Robert J. Lovero
“In Partnership with the Community”
Berwyn Police Department
Chief James D. Ritz
NEWSLETTER
September 2012
MESSAGE FROM THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
T
Quick
Tips
hroughout the course of my administration, I regularly meet with the City
Administrator and department heads to review, critique and make actionable
recommendations which will enhance the City services that are provided to our
residents. The purpose of this scrutiny is to find ways to provide Berwyn residents with
the most efficient and effective services while considering ways to initiate green
alternatives when possible. Although we have made great strides, this is a continuous
process that is constantly reviewed. It is only through a collective partnership between
the City and its residents that we can all contribute to keeping Berwyn clean and
beautiful. It is at this time that I would like to remind you of some simple disposal
solutions for household items:
• For larger pick-ups, one large item will be picked up per week with your normal
trash. It is advisable to inform Waste Management (800-796-9696) ahead of time.
• Vehicle batteries can be disposed of at your local auto parts store or at Berwyn
Public Works located at 1 Public Works Drive.
• Household batteries can be disposed of at your local hardware store.
BERWYN NOISE
ORDINANCE
Sounds coming from
NOISE
a motor vehicle that ORDINANCE
ENFORCED
can be heard from
75 feet away or
more are in violation of the law
and can result in a ticket and
impoundment of the vehicle.
Impoundment fees are $500,
plus towing and storage fees.
SCHOOL
SCH
IS NOW
OOL
IN SESSION
CITY-WIDE 25 MPH
SPEED LIMIT
The speed limit for
all city streets is 25 mph unless
posted otherwise. All alley
speed limits are 15 mph unless
posted otherwise.
• Compact fluorescent light bulbs can be disposed of at your local hardware store.
• Tires can be disposed of at your local tire store; however, there may be a fee for
this service.
• Oil can be disposed of at most auto repair businesses.
• All paints should be dried either with hardener (available at local hardware store)
or with kitty litter and left open till completely dry. The containers can then be
disposed of in your normal trash.
• Yard waste must be put in either brown paper bags or in approved marked
containers with a “Yard Waste” sticker which can be picked up at City Hall’s front
desk.
Did you also know that electronics cannot be disposed of in your regular trash? The
City of Berwyn offers an electronics recycling center. The recycling center is located at
Berwyn Public Works, 1 Public Works Drive. The recycling center’s hours of operation
are: Monday – Friday, 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Unwanted electronics, with the exception of
white appliances, can be brought there for recycling. For further information, contact
Public Works at: 708-749-4700. Please, DO NOT dispose of electronics with your
regular trash.
For additional questions regarding waste disposal and collections, contact: Waste
Management at 800-796-9696 or Berwyn Public Works Department at 708-749-4700.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation and assistance in helping keep Berwyn
clean and beautiful, and I remind you to report all illegal dumping to the Berwyn Police
Department by calling 708-795-5600 (non-emergency) or 9-1-1 (emergency).
Respectfully,
Mayor Robert J. Lovero
Neighborhood Watch Newsletter
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
COMPLAINTS
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
BLOCK CAPTAINS WANTED!
Please forward any/all
Neighborhood Watch Complaints to
T
Unit Commander James Sassetti
708-795-2150 or
[email protected]
CRIME
Tip
Berwyn Police Telephone
o become a Neighborhood Watch
Block Captain, contact:
Unit Commander
James Sassetti at:
708-795-2150 or
[email protected]
708-749-6564
HOTLINE
BERWYN EMERGENCY SERVICES LAUNCHES
EMERGENCY MEDICAL DISPATCH (EMD)
I
f you have to call 9-1-1 in Berwyn to request an ambulance, you will notice a change in the way our 9-1-1 Telecommunicators
operate. Beginning on August 1st, Berwyn 9-1-1 personnel placed months of training and preparation into use when they
began to provide medical information and pre-arrival
instructions over the phone. The new program is called
Emergency Medical Dispatch, and this revolutionary system
will provide all of us with a consistent and complete level of
care. In addition, our 9-1-1 Center is not only the first standalone Center in the Loyola EMS system to provide such a
program, but, in doing so, our Center is setting the standard
for other 9-1-1 Centers to rise up and meet. All of the
training and preparation costs associated with this program
came at no additional cost to residents as the 9-1-1 Board
utilized 9-1-1 surcharge fees that are collected through
landline and wireless phone bills to cover all of the
expenses.
Emergency Medical Dispatch is a system that enhances services provided by our 9-1-1 Center. All of our 9-1-1 personnel are
trained and certified as Emergency Medical Dispatchers. They can gather information related to medical emergencies and quickly
narrow down the type of medical or trauma situation, and they provide
instructions until help arrives. They immediately dispatch the
ambulance, but then return to the caller to gather additional information
and provide instructions before help arrives. They are trained to guide
callers through CPR, choking, bleeding control or other first-aid
procedures until the ambulance arrives.
Before going live, there were months of preparation that began with
the selection of PowerPhone as the protocols that our 9-1-1 personnel
were going to utilize. PowerPhone then began to work with CAPERS on
an interface with our Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system. Working
with Loyola Hospital, our protocols were approved, and our 9-1-1 Center
became part of their Emergency Medical System. Final approval by the
Illinois Department of Public Health was then achieved. In the meantime,
9-1-1 personnel were obtaining their certifications in EMD and CPR, and were then learning the protocol system from
PowerPhone.
This project was made possible by the collaborative efforts of the 9-1-1 Board, PowerPhone, CAPERS, Police, Fire and City
IT Departments, but most importantly the 9-1-1 Telecommunicators who are now providing this service to all of the citizens in
Berwyn. Everyone involved is proud to say that in Berwyn, Yes, we EMD!
Further information on the Emergency Medical Dispatch program can be obtained by contacting the City of Berwyn’s 9-1-1
Systems Administrator at 708-795-2114. Public speaking engagements are also available.
Neighborhood Watch Newsletter
Upoming Community Events
HISTORIC ROUTE 66 CAR SHOW
Saturday, September 8, 2012
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
E
very year, in early September, the Berwyn Preservation of Historic Route 66 Committee of the BDC hosts the
Historic Route 66 Car Show, which is held on Ogden Avenue in Berwyn. Berwyn has always been a great
Route 66 town with a thriving, dynamic and fast-growing community at its heart. The Route 66 Car Show proves
very successful with an estimated crowd of approximately 10,000 residents and visitors each year. All classic car
fans are welcome to the show and can rediscover the great automotive heritage of Berwyn’s Historic Route 66.
This event takes place on Ogden Avenue between Oak Park and Ridgeland Avenues on Saturday, September 8th from 10:00AM to 4:00
PM. There will be Arts & Crafts, Fairs, Festivals & Parades, Families, Performing Arts, Music & Comedy Shows, Seasonal Events, and
Special Events for all ages!
For more information visit http://berwynrt66.com/ or contact the Berwyn Development Corporation at 708-788-8100.
12TH ANNUAL HISTORIC DEPOT DISTRICT OKTOBERFEST
Friday, September 14, 2012, 6 – 11pm & Saturday,
September 15, 2012, Noon – 11pm
T
he BDC’s Historic Depot District Special Events Committee is celebrating its 12th
annual Oktoberfest this year. The successful two-day event takes place in the Depot
District on both sides of the Metra tracks between Oak Park and Home Avenues. With an
anticipated record attendance of residents and visitors over the two days, it includes lots of food, live performances, amusement rides,
kids' activities, crafters and vendors.
For more information about Oktoberfest visit [email protected] or contact the Berwyn Development Corporation at 708-788-8100.
SCHOOLS OPEN! BERWYN POLICE ARE STEPPING
UP TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS
n behalf of the Berwyn Police Department, we would like to
welcome all parents and children back for another exciting and
successful school year. We hope that each of you have had a very
safe and enjoyable summer break as we focus on our school safety
and program initiatives.
O
The Berwyn Police Department and our respective school districts
are combining resources to make school areas safer for our children.
To raise awareness of school safety and traffic enforcement issues,
the Berwyn Police Department assigns police officers to each school on a daily basis during morning drop-off and afternoon
dismissal times.
Many of the traffic problems around our schools are caused by impatient parents. Therefore, in order to protect the safety of
each and every student, the Berwyn Police Department will step up traffic enforcement efforts and be issuing citations and
parking tickets to all parents who violate any traffic law or local parking ordinance. A Zero-Tolerance approach will be
strictly enforced against parents who ignore school zone speed limits, designated pick-up areas, who double park, block
crosswalks or fire hydrants, and who park on the wrong side of the street. Each of these traffic violations put our kids in
danger, and our goal is to ensure the safety of all our children around schools.
Please be patient while dropping off your children for school. Thank you for your assistance and cooperation as we work
together to continuously improve our efforts in protecting the safety of our students. Please visit our website at
www.berwynpolicedepartment.com to learn more about our school safety programs and initiatives.
Welcome back and have a very enjoyable and safe school year.
Sincerely,
James D. Ritz
Chief of Police
Neighborhood Watch Newsletter
BERWYN POLICE DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES
CRIME ANALYST POSITION
O
n August 1st, the Berwyn Police underscored their commitment to solving, reducing and preventing crimes with the creation of
their first full-time Crime Analyst. Crime analysis attempts to discover patterns and trends in the data that is recorded by the
Berwyn Police on a daily basis. This information can help the department to deploy resources more efficiently, assist in the arrest of
offenders, and develop strategies to combat ongoing crime problems.
To achieve this goal, the City of Berwyn selected Wayne D. Sedore to represent the Crime Analysis Section of the Berwyn Police
Department’s Records Unit. Sedore was transferred to the position from his previous post as Afternoon Shift Supervisor of the city’s
9-1-1 center, and where he spent the last several years studying the skill-set of an analyst on a volunteer basis.
A Crime Analyst has three main focuses. The first is finding trends, patterns and hot-spots of criminal activity. This provides the
who, what, when, where, how, and why of current problems, from
which the department can then develop tactics and strategies to
reduce those risks. The second is researching long-term problems.
Are certain crimes more likely to happen in winter than during the
summer? Is there one particular house or business that is causing a
neighborhood’s crime rate to increase? These are the questions that
the analyst asks, and many times can produce results that help to
mitigate those problems. The third has more of an administrative
function: the analyst conducts internal studies to make sure that
the department is making the best use of its resources. In this focus,
an analyst may find that a city’s patrol zones may need to be
altered to ensure better police presence in high-crime areas, or that
one shift may need more officers than another to reduce overtime
payouts. In all of these instances, the analyst applies the scientific
method to the problem, and provides the administration with an
impartial review.
Sedore said: “Using crime statistics to gain valuable insights for the
future dates back to the mid 1800’s, but this work was incredibly
time consuming and took several people to compile all of the data.
Thanks to technology and good record-keeping, the workload is
manageable and gives us time to gather as much knowledge as we
can.” “The idea is that when data is analyzed, it becomes
information. And when information is communicated, it becomes
knowledge.”
Sedore also maintains the department website and its social
networking pages. Through the use of bulletins, maps, charts,
videos and presentations, the Crime Analysis Section of the Berwyn
Police intends to increase communication within the department as
well as the community. “In the past few years, we’ve made great
progress in sharing crime information with Berwyn residents. By
visiting CrimeReports.com you can view a map that includes all of
the incidents in your area, and even sign up for notifications if
you’d like to be informed when anything happens nearby.” “You
will definitely see more activity from us if you follow our Facebook
or Twitter accounts. We want to keep you informed, and we want to
hear your constructive input and feedback. The public plays a vital
role in public safety, and your involvement and support is crucial.”
The monthly Neighborhood Watch Newsletter can be viewed
on the City of Berwyn web site at:
www.Berwyn-IL.gov
or
www.Berwynpolicedepartment.com