A group of Westmont residents who live near Twin Lakes Park have asked for increased police patrols to deal with adolescents who hang out in the park at 59th and Williams Streets.
The residents say teens intimidate children and adults, drink illegally, and vandalize the area.
”It hasn`t come to (serious violence) yet, but it`s deteriorating very quickly,” said a seven-year Westmont resident who asked not to be identified, saying he feared reprisals.
But police, village and park district officials say that although they are aware of the problem at Twin Lakes and other parks, they need more than general complaints to help solve the problem.
”The law limits what we can do,” Police Chief Richard Metzger said.
”We can`t just lock people up unless we see something, or someone complains. We can`t be at that one place all the time, so we need residents to be willing to sign complaints and appear in court.”
Increasing patrols would mean hiring more officers and increasing taxes , said Mayor Frank Bellerive, ”and nobody will agree to that. So the answer is that this has got to be citizen resolve.”
A meeting will be held with members of local homeowners and other resident organizations to discuss ways to deal with the park problems, according to Trustee James Addington.
”This is a problem in all the parks,” Addington said. ”We have to figure out something or we might as well just kiss them goodbye.”
