Tonight I went to a Town Hall Meeting for the 17th Police District of Chicago, where we live. I confess I figured I would be bored to tears, but fortunately I was wrong! We heard about crime statistics, saw PowerPoint slides with writing way too small, and heard from the new Police Commander who seemed capable. The CAPS guy definitely made an effort at humor, and everything moved along pretty well.
So we were offered free anti-theft devices for our car steering wheels which I thought was neat. Who knew you would get a free gift at the meeting? Mine is in this photo, along with some peppermint candies that were in a Streets & Sanitation handout about rat control. No really! 😉
I think my one take-away was that car theft is up 40% nationwide and locally. I didn’t realize that. Also to my surprise, they said the Honda Civic and Accord are the number one stolen cars, years 1994-1998, both nationwide, in Chicago, and in our 17th district. These cars are stolen for the parts. They were discussing how people can break into your garage doors too. Delightful. I am entertaining the idea that ignorance is not actually bliss. I will go to some CAPS meetings now, to see what else I learn. Hopefully I will meet some nice neighbors too.