Residents, police discuss crime at Hoffman Estates condos

Around 100 people attended a meeting Thursday night at the Hoffman Estates Police Department to discuss crime at the Highland Crossing Condominiums and police response.

For about an hour, police Chief Michael Hish listened and responded to an array of concerns brought up by residents — the majority of whom live in one of the 11 Highland Crossing buildings, located near the intersection of Golf and Higgins roads — including intoxicated nonresidents, speeding, vandalism and trespassers.

Mayor William McLeod, Trustee Karen Mills, state Rep. Fred Crespo and police supervisors were also present, along with three members of the association's board of directors.

Before residents shared their experiences, property manager Kathy Doherty said she has a lot of respect for the police and outlined actions that have been taken to prevent crime at the condos, from posting no trespassing signs to a traffic regulation agreement.

One of the first concerns brought up by residents were intoxicated people who are regularly found by a fence that borders Schaumburg.

Hish said he will work with Schaumburg police to try to find a solution to the issue, explaining that it has to be addressed “from both sides of the fence.”

Many residents complained that the police response time was too long and that they are growing tired of seeing repeat offenders get away.

Hish said he understood the residents' concerns but explained that sometimes officers need to attend to another call first or are not able to make an arrest.

“I can't take away the officers' discretion, nor would I want to do that,” he said. “I have to depend on people to do their jobs.”

Some requests made by residents included better enforcement for the closing time of a nearby park and more frequent foot patrol by officers. A few residents suggested that problems sometimes stem from some residents living in the neighboring Steeple Hill Condominiums.

Hish said one of his “biggest frustrations” is how the two condominium complexes don't work well together.

Steeple Hill property manager Brian Pregler said Thursday afternoon that he had no plans to attend the meeting. He said the 14-building complex experiences many of the same problems as Highland Crossing but said the police response to crime at Steeple Hill is good and that he understands sometimes police can't take action over every disturbance.

“I don't agree with, we need to go and have a public forum to attack the Hoffman Estates police department,” he said, adding that the Steeple Hill Condominium Association board of directors was “not looking to go a public meeting and be ridiculed by the neighborhood.”

He said he has heard but could not confirm that some former Highland Crossing residents who caused problems have moved into Steeple Hill.

In the last year though, he said, Steeple Hill has put more regulations on residents, including required background checks.

Hish and Doherty said they were pleased with how the meeting went, and Hish said he plans to keep working with residents to address issues.

“They talk to Kathy, Kathy talks to me, and it gets filtered,” he said. “It's good to hear firsthand exactly what the issues are.”

He said some of the problems brought up at the meeting “may not be a crime, but it's a quality-of-life issue.” He still urged residents to always contact police if they have a concern.

“Call 911, and if you don't get the service that you think you deserve, then call me.”