THE LANDMARK VIEW
Everything changed for Mike Fakhouri on July 9. His brother was killed by a gun-toting robber, the future of his business was put in jeopardy. He and his brother ran Phoenix Liquor as a two-man operation. The felt they were safe. That’s all changed.
Mike said he won’t let any employee work alone any longer. Security measures will have to be taken – lights, cameras, the works. Every unfamiliar face walking in the door will be greeted with a degree of suspicion.
Police so far have run into a brick wall in identifying suspects. Our guess is that, barring someone implicating himself or his partner in crime after being arrested in the future, solving Bob Fakhouri’s murder is going to be a very, very difficult thing to do.
So what’s left? It has to be making the business community – and residents – believe they are safe from such kinds of crime occurring. The village’s police chief sent out a letter to residents near the Ogden Avenue liquor store shortly after the robbery/homicide. It was a proactive move that set a good tone and assured people police were being vigilant.
That was a good start, but we feel police can do more. In fact, police in Brookfield and Lyons can perhaps partner, as one local businessman suggested last week to the Landmark, to increase police visibility along Ogden Avenue.
One suggestion is instituting – if not formally, then at least informally – a community policing policy where officers walk parts of the district, personally check in with business owners, create a friendly partnership. Another suggestion, increasing bike patrols in the area.
The main goal would be to up the visibility of police along Ogden as a deterrent. Police certainly patrol Ogden all the time, but adding that personal outreach to the business community would be a fine gesture and a productive one.
None of that is going to be easy for an already understaffed department, and future staffing levels are still uncertain as the village wrestles to get its budget ironed out. But a primary role of municipal government is to provide for public safety.
In a village which has seen several unusual violent crimes, two ending in murder, in the past 10 months, it’s time to be creative when it comes to ensuring Ogden Avenue business owners (as well as business people in other districts) and residents that, in Brookfield, safety comes first.
What the heck happened?
Does Brookfield’s sewer system work? That was a frequent question over the weekend, as people saw their basements and blocks in Brookfield fill up like swimming pools. Village officials have said that the system was working as planned and that cataclysmic rains were to blame for flooding in the past couple of years.
But we’re not getting the picture that residents are prepared to believe that. Like public safety, it’s up to the village to convince residents that their concerns are being taken seriously and that the infrastructure is in working order. If there are this many questions, the village needs to get answers to residents, and fast.