A year after a string of murders, Hanover Park works toward change

A year has passed since a cloud of despair blanketed Hanover Park.

Neighbors closed blinds and fearful parents refused to let their children play outside after seeing police officers drape yet another front yard with yellow crime scene tape.

In a two-week span from May 23 to June 6, four murders shook the village and left its leaders speechless. Several area police departments and Illinois State Police rerouted manpower to assist Hanover Park, and residents looking for answers jammed into gymnasiums for gang awareness forums.

"It couldn't have been a more horrendous time," Mayor Rod Craig said. "It was a nightmare."

However, Craig said that since the spike in violent crime, which also included multiple nonfatal shootings and stabbings in spring 2009, the cloud has lifted. The village is enjoying a period of relative quiet Craig attributes to a number of changes, including a shift in policing strategies.

Among them is a new community policing initiative known as Area Response Team.

Instead of just patrolling neighborhoods, Deputy Police Chief Tom Cortese said, officers now immerse themselves in their beats and are responsible for seeing problems through to the end, from social service to code enforcement issues.

"We're trying to foster a relationship beyond the traditional police approach of writing a report, issuing a ticket and leaving," Cortese said. "We're interacting with the community."

The hope is that people will be more likely to come forward when they know of a crime that has or is about to take place. Cortese said police are having success in some areas, though there's still reluctance in others largely due to language barriers.

Unfortunately, nobody has come forward with information leading to Jesus Sanchez's killer. The 16-year-old was gunned down May 23, 2009, while walking home from playing soccer in a nearby park. Police believe the murder was gang-related, and said an active investigation continues.

Quick arrests were made after the killing of Norma Favela, 31, a pregnant mother police say was beaten to death by her boyfriend, and Pamela Sue Howat, 51, who police say was stabbed by a former co-worker she briefly dated. And charges came within hours of 23-year-old Diontae Roberts dying in a gang-related stabbing at a party.

All three cases are pending in Cook and DuPage County courts.

Another key change is the size of the village's police force.

Since the slayings, Hanover Park has added three sworn police officers, bringing its total to 57. This year's budget includes funding for four more officers.

Craig tapped former Police Chief Ron Moser as village manager, and department veteran David Webb stepped in as the new chief. And village trustees approved building a much larger police station later this year to relieve cramped headquarters.

Police now host public meetings at village hall and e-mail news to anyone who signs up for alerts.

The department also has a safe homes program in which officers and a social worker visit the homes of at-risk kids who might be associating with gangs. They ask parents' permission to search a child's room for evidence of gang activity and determine how to deal with the situation.

About 10 such searches have been conducted since January. Cortese said the "success rate is too early to say."

In addition, the department resurrected its neighborhood watch program, which had been phased out along with other crime prevention initiatives because of budget woes and a lack of personnel. More than 75 block captains signed up to host meetings, organize block parties and act as liaisons with police.

Jenny Konstanzer, a stay-at-home mom to four children and a co-captain with her husband, said you can never have too many sets of eyes on the lookout. She also believes that consistently seeing the same four officers assigned to her neighborhood has made people more comfortable with police.

"We're trying to let people know that our police department is here to help us, not hurt us," Konstanzer said. "We've come a long way in a year."

Craig said he's hopeful the quiet trend will continue as a sense of community grows.

"Unfortunately, domestic violence hasn't gone away and crazy people will still do crazy things," he said. "But we have good families and hard workers who want to improve the quality of life here."