Palatine police responded about 7:45 AM Friday to a hit-and-run crash with property damage at Lake Cook Road and Hicks Road Palatine, IL. Palatine police at the scene reported a hit-and-run crash with no personal injuries.
The offending vehicle was described as a gray Chevy van, which was later discovered to be the van that was stolen from the block of 1600 South Princeton Avenue at 6:40 a.m. Earlier Friday Arlington Heights Police reported only that a van was stolen. Police reported that an offender stole a gray 2008 Chevrolet Express cargo van with Illinois license 2443 ZU. The suspect driving the stolen vehicle was described as a male/black subject, and was identified by police.
After the hit-and-run crash, the van was last seen eastbound on Lake Cook Road. The offender or offenders were considered armed and dangerous, and were possibly armed with a handgun.
The offender or offenders in the van were possibly involved in an armed robbery or retail theft or attempted crimes at Lowe’s Home Improvement, 990 West Algonquin Road, just south of the Princeton Avenue address. At least one of the offenders at Lowe’s reached the van, which was left running to warm up on the driveway of a house near Lowe’s. The armed robbery or retail theft information has NOT been confirmed — the exact activity of the man that took the van prior to the van theft has NOT been confirmed.
DEVELOPING story …
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.