After Shooting Death, Police, Community Discuss Gang Prevention

After a gang shooting in July in Des Plaines, Laura Morask, a prosecutor and deputy supervisor for the Cook County State's Attorney's office, organized a community discussion about gangs.

Morask, who is an expert on gangs and is also an elected Maine Township trustee, brought together a panel that included the police chiefs of Niles, Des Plaines and Park Ridge, school officials from Maine Township District 207 high schools and other law enforcement personnel from Cook County and the Chicago Police Department. Maine Township sponsored the event, which was held Wednesday at its headquarters in Park Ridge.

One resident of unincorporated Maine Township told the panelists two strange cars have been circling her block recently, and that when she called to report them as possibly gang-related, her call got diverted to voicemail, according to Journal and Topics Newspapers.

Tony Brezniak, a deputy commander with the Cook County Sheriff's Police, said her call would be looked into, according to the Journal and Topics. He also said callers should persist in talking to 911 operators until they get a response.

Morask told the group the first step in combating gangs is awareness, then prevention.