I woke up on May 6 to the news about the murder of off-duty Chicago Police Officer Aréanah Preston, 24, who was killed in Avalon Park. As I read the media reports, I was very saddened by this tragic loss of not only a Chicago police officer but an outstanding individual and someone who wanted to have influence in law enforcement.
Officer Preston grew up in the city. Her college professor stated she stood out in class as ambitious and professional, and she wanted to advance. She was homegrown, educated locally, female, young, African American, and stayed in the community she served — that should mean something to every Chicagoan.
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In addition, she wanted to get involved with new policing methods, even with the reported decline in numbers in the law enforcement profession. Not many individuals are willing to come into law enforcement these days to be a change agent, as she wanted to be. And for her brief time in the Chicago Police Department, she did just that.
Plenty of politicians will praise her short career and her willingness to stay in Chicago. You will see individuals supporting the police, asking how this could happen and how it continues. These are highly violent times, and police officers are battling for their lives and fighting to save the communities they serve. When there is a deep dive into the backgrounds of the suspects, we will likely learn more about their criminal histories and how the court system has failed them and us as a society.
After serving 37 years in police work and 13 years as police chief in Riverside, I was often asked by citizens, politicians and other leaders, “What do you look for in an officer?”
Aréanah Preston was what I looked for, and so should ever chief.
Tom Weitzel, retired chief, Riverside Police Department
Creating tollways is a dumb idea to stop shootings
I can’t believe that State Sen. Thaddeus Jones believes that making them tollways will help stop the shootings on the expressways. Gang-bangers can pay tolls also.
I as a taxpayer would like to see your idiotic plan. It will probably put more money into politicians’ salaries. Don’t you politicians in Springfield have better ideas than this? Fight crime and install cameras, so lawbreaking people are caught. Quit trying to get more money from taxpayers who pay your salary.
Any other politicians that believe this is a good idea need to get their heads examined, because if so, you have flown over the cuckoo’s nest.
Gerald Burnson, Tinley Park
