Oak Park Police Chief has come up with an interesting idea to help citizens fight crime. Whistles. Yes, whistles. He advocates members of the public carrying whistles so that in case of a robbery, they can sound the whistle, attracting attention and hopefully scaring the would-be robber away.

Think this is a joke? You’re not the only one. Many people are laughing at Chief Rick Tanksley’s idea and think the whole whistle blower idea is one that would’ve only been effective in years gone by.

This article from the Sun-Times points out a rise in robberies in the Oak Park area. They were up to 166 incidents in 2008 compared with 114 in 2007. That is quite a leap and definitely one that the chief of police should be addressing and making efforts to get under control. I am not convinced the whistles are the best answer though. read more