Carpentersville activists organize to fight crime, problems

When residents of Carpentersville's Spring Acre Hills subdivision got tired of the speeding motorists racing through their neighborhood last summer, they didn't demand the village install speed bumps or electronic signs displaying speeds.

Instead, homeowners like Adam Ruiz organized and took action as a neighborhood watch group.

Ruiz and other residents worked with the police department to use a radar gun and document cases of speeding drivers. The residents then took that information to the police and requested more patrols.

"It started with a lot of little complaints," said Ruiz, who started the Spring Acre Hills program about two years ago. "But then crimes like burglaries and bigger stuff started to happen and people were getting upset by it."

Since then, about 60 residents have joined the Spring Acre Hills group and others are interested in participating, Ruiz said.

"Everyone wants to live in a safe community," he said. "The only way to communicate and work together is to organize. You can get information out directly."

Now, the police department is looking for a few more groups in more neighborhoods. So far groups have formed in four other subdivisions: Keele Farms, Lakewood Estates North, Silverstone and Winchester Glen, said Carpentersville Community Resource Officer Michael Salvaggio.

"It is important to society as a whole to make the community safer for everyone," Salvaggio said. "It doesn't matter if it's in Carpentersville's zip code, Elgin's zip code, or South Barrington's zip code, we can all look out for one another."

As a liaison between law enforcement and residents, Salvaggio trains community members to identify suspicious activity, home security, property marking and other neighborhood watch basics.

Those basics led to the arrest of three burglary suspects in the Keele Farms subdivision about a year ago, Salvaggio said.

"The main purpose is for neighbors to look out for one another," Salvaggio said.

For more information on the Neighborhood Watch Program, contact Salvaggio at 847-551-3481, ext. 298.