The Mundelein Police Department has developed a philosophy to employ non-traditional “alternatives” to community problems. The Police Department works in a unique partnership with the community. Police Officers focus on the prevention of crime before it happens through the Department's community involvement and solution-oriented programming.
The Village was divided into 4 geographical police districts; Districts 10, 20, 30, & 40. A Zone Commander is responsible for two Districts. Each district is assigned a District Commander, and a team of community policing officers. Officers are responsible to the citizens in their district. Each officer must walk his/her entire district, introducing themselves to each resident or business owner within their beat. Although this process is time consuming, it provides the district officer an opportunity to meet the citizens of "their" district. Officers also develop accountability and responsibility to their district. They work with residents to identify crime patterns or trends and utilize crime prevention techniques or special operations details to address issues surrounding their police districts. Positive feedback has been received from the district officer and the community, stating that they feel the police are more approachable and accessible to them as compared to the past.
Community History:
In the past 92+ years, Mundelein has evolved from a community of farmlands in 1909, population 500, to a culturally and ethnically diverse suburb of Chicago with over 30,935 residents. Mundelein is geographically situated approximately 35 miles northwest from Chicago’s “loop”, five miles west of Interstate 94, and 20 miles north of O'Hare airport. Four major state highways serve Mundelein: Route 60, Route 45, Route 176 and Route 83 encompassing a 9.75 square mile land area. It is redefining its identity and striving to blend its unassuming past with a bustling future. The Village has evolved over the past two decades from a rural-oriented, blue collar, small town to a suburban, upper middle-class, diversified community. New development has been primarily residential and has led to a large influx of new residents, but has also provided a “move up” market for established residents. Simultaneously, a steady increase in a Hispanic minority, attracted by affordable housing and employment opportunities, has occurred. According to the 2000 census, the Hispanic population showed an increase from 7.5% in 1990 to 24.2% in 2000. The Hispanic community is highly concentrated into two neighborhoods, Diamond Lake & Whitehall Manor. Few resources were available for Hispanic families. Those that were available, often went unused because of cultural and language barriers. The Village is in transition, which provides certain problems and challenges for the community.
Over the years, Mundelein developed a number of concerns dealing with issues of minorities (cultural diversity), young people involved with gangs, alcohol, drugs, and other “quality-of-life” issues. It was clear that traditional policing and reacting to crimes after they occurred was failing. These problems, if ignored, would certainly affect the entire community. In response to the problems facing the community, the police department developed a non-traditional approach to addressing community problems. A number of partnerships with a variety of organizations in the community were formed.
The partnerships resulted in the development of a number of community-policing programs and programs involving all members of our community, including schools, churches, businesses, senior citizens, youth and families.
The Mundelein Police Department focuses on the prevention of crime through the Department's solution-oriented programming. Our partnerships have contributed to enhancing the “quality-of-life” issues, the reduction of crime, and “fear-of-crime” issues that have had a negative impact on our citizens and residents.
Page last updated on Tuesday, February 05, 2008 at 04:40 PM -0600