Car crashes prompt Rolling Meadows police to step up patrols on Kirchoff Road
Rolling Meadows police have stepped up patrols along the busy Kirchoff Road corridor following at least two serious crashes in the last month and a half.
As a result, they issued about 100 citations for speeding and other violations in May alone.
"I definitely understand the concern of the residents that live on Kirchoff or around that area," Police Chief John Nowacki told aldermen last week, referencing a number of phone calls and emails from concerned residents to Ward 4 Alderman Jenifer Vinezeano.
Nowacki said he's deployed daily patrols of officers to monitor Kirchoff - a four-lane thoroughfare marked by single-family homes on the east and west and a commercial stretch in between - in what's been considered the city's traditional downtown.
The stepped-up enforcement follows two significant rollover crashes this spring.
On April 17, two vehicles were badly damaged in a high-speed crash involving injuries on the 2600 block of Kirchoff. One of the drivers was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, and his court case is pending, Nowacki said.
The other occurred May 15 near Jewel-Osco, when a driver dropped an item in the vehicle and tried to pick it up, but in the process veered off the road, Nowacki said.
And just outside the Rolling Meadows city limits two days later, an off-duty Chicago police officer was speeding on Wilke Road when his SUV struck a utility pole near Kirchoff and ended up in an Arlington Heights backyard. The violent crash killed the 29-year-old officer, Jose Luis Castro.
The accidents spurred Nowacki to concentrate more resources to patrolling Kirchoff. He's also planning to compile a formal report about speeding on the corridor.
"We've been very active and we will continue to do so," he said.
Mayor Joe Gallo noted that with the end of the school year in Palatine Township Elementary District 15 and start of summer, more children will be out playing in the neighborhoods.
"We want to make sure that they are safe when they're crossing roads, especially Kirchoff Road," Gallo told Nowacki. "So I appreciate you sharing that information and stepping up enforcement of our speed policies."