No Rise In Oak Forest Crime Despite Facebook Suspicions: Police

OAK FOREST, IL — You probably saw reports on Facebook or on Twitter, or maybe heard them in line at Jewel: Suspicious people are parking in Oak Forest driveways and at curbs or are slowly cruising neighborhood streets.

Maybe the reports even sounded like this post from a closed community Facebook group: "I pulled up to my driveway to a strange car sitting near my house. There was a younger guy wearing a grey hoodie. I didn’t get out!"

Concerning? For sure. Criminal? Not so much. At least not yet, said Oak Forest Police Chief Tim Kristin.

Residents could be seeing something, but police don't know what it is, he said.

"There's no recent uptick in crime. Nothing out of the ordinary," he said.

The post's writer said she called the non-emergency police line to report what she witnessed. But Kristin said if others are seeing suspicious people lingering outside of their houses, they aren't reporting it to police. He encouraged them to.

"We take all calls seriously," Kristin said.

Generally speaking, Oak Forest's crime rate is low and the city has been ranked as one of the safestplaces to live.

Where Oak Forest is seeing persistent problems, Kristin added, is in the number of burglaries from vehicles that are left unlocked overnight. It's a problem across the south suburbs in both Cook and Will counties, he and other law enforcement agencies said.

If residents do spot someone checking car door handles, looking into car windows or bumping car doors to see if alarms are triggered, they should call 911, Kristin said.

And remember, he said, to lock your car doors at night.