Arlington Heights police responded about 6:09 PM Tuesday to a report of shots fired by a passenger from a vehicle at 1728 West Algonquin Road Arlington Heights, IL. Police received a report that a black semi-automatic handgun was fired by a passenger in a silver Ford Focus.
The suspect was described as a male/Hispanic, age 17, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and a black bandana.
The Ford Focus was last seen westbound on Algonquin Road from the scene.
Details are limited at this time. It is unknown if this was a drive-by shooting attempt or a road rage incident (etc) at this time. Real-time details of possible life-threatening events are limited in Arlington Heights because Arlington Heights main police radio dispatch is encrypted.
No known injuries reported at this time.
The crime is reported to have occurred at 6:09 p.m.
IMPORTANT ALERT …
Cardinal Note: As of June 5, 2013 — up to and including the date of this article — police incidents related to the above police agency are not reported in real time or within a prompt time period. Police protecting their realm of investigation and police activity, have chosen to use secret military-grade encrypted radios to withhold their police communications, which were previously open to the public and news media via monitoring of public safety scanning radios — with no known negative results locally.
The delayed knowledge or entirely blacked out knowledge resulting from encrypted police communications may protect certain police operations and investigations, but it also puts the public at risk in situations such as when armed and dangerous offenders are at large and when other similar situations occur, such as when desperate offenders of property crimes are eluding police. In other cases, the delayed or blacked out information inhibits or prohibits the possibility of the public providing early witness accounts before a criminal trail goes cold. Citizens are much more likely to recognize or recall suspicious or criminal activity if they are aware of the criminal incident within minutes or hours of its occurrence. The most serious incident involving dire results would be a trail that is allowed to go cold in the case of child abduction.
The lack of real time information from public police dispatch also weakens an effective neighborhood watch program mostly working to prevent property loss, but also working to prevent possible violent crimes.
Lack of real time information from police dispatch also delays public awareness or eliminates public awareness of general hazards and traffic or other situations in every day living in an otherwise economically thriving community.
Police have alternate ways to transmit tactical, operational or investigative information, while still keeping their main public dispatch channels open for the best balance of public safety and police safety.
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