East Dundee police open house to offer tours, demonstrations

East Dundee police host an open house Saturday with the goal of strengthening relationships and interacting with residents.

The 10 a.m. event will give the public an opportunity to meet law enforcement officers, watch demonstrations and tour the village's state-of-the-art police station at 115 E. Third St.

"It cost the village quite a sum of money, and it's a beautiful facility," interim Chief George Carpenter said. "The residents deserve to come in as our guests and see what we have here."

The police station, a former fire department, underwent a $3.9 million renovation a few years ago. Officers relocated there in the spring of 2016 from their previous facility, which was attached to village hall and was one-third the size of their newer headquarters.

Residents will be able to check out the detention area and watch a firearms training simulation in the multipurpose training room, Carpenter said. The facility also has a fitness center, kitchen, and specific rooms for interviewing, booking and taking reports.

Officers will be at the station talking with community members, as will representatives from the QuadCom dispatch center and the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.

"We're a professional organization, and we want to be, of course, transparent with the community we serve," Carpenter said, noting he hopes the department will make the open house an annual tradition.

The event is one of several ways East Dundee police are hoping to better engage with residents, he said. The department hosted a "Coffee with a Cop" event last weekend, and it will partner with West Dundee to host a National Night Out Against Crime Aug. 7.

Carpenter, who was hired as interim chief in January, said he wants community members to feel comfortable expressing their concerns and asking questions.

"The general public is going to see that we're welcoming and we're friendly. We want them to know us, and we want to know them," Carpenter said. "We need to hear from the public because we can't do our job without them."