South Elgin hopes to revitalize watch programs

By all accounts, South Elgin has low crime and is a safe community.

But village leaders aren't taking anything for granted as they hope to revitalize their Neighborhood Watch and strengthen their "Eagle Eye" program encouraging people to report suspicious activity in parks.

"We're always trying to keep the community involved," said Police Chief Christopher Merritt. "We just looked up and realized we need to put more effort into our Neighborhood Watch, to expand it and keep people involved. We're blessed that we don't have a lot of crime. When things come up, we want people to feel that have access to us."

Police and officials from the village's parks and recreation department will host a meeting at 7 p.m. July 20 at village hall, 10 N. Water St., to share information with residents interested in forming a watch group.

Residents also will learn signs of suspicious activity that can range from overt crimes to something seemingly harmless like hanging on a basketball rim, which can cause $300 damage and shut down a court until it's fixed.

"Neither one of these programs works without the residents' help and their awareness," said Jim Reuter, parks and recreation department director. "They need to know that they can call (911) dispatch if they see something that doesn't seem right,"

People who can't make the meeting can get information by calling police Sgt. Randy Endean at (847) 741-2151 or Shane Hamilton at the parks and recreation department at (847) 622-0003 or visiting the website southelgin.com.