Joliet police, city officials to hold public safety forum

A public safety forum in Joliet has been announced days after the police chief discussed holding a similar event on Des Plaines River deaths.

The public safety forum is set for 7 p.m. June 26 at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park, 201 W. Jefferson St., Joliet, according to a news release sent Thursday from the city of Joliet.

Depending on the level of participation, Joliet police Chief Bill Evans plans to make the forum an annual event, according to the release.

A bilingual translation service is expected for the event. Staff from the Joliet Fire Department have been invited to attend the event as well.

Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy asked Evans and his command staff to “find a way to communicate with our residents about highly publicized events” from the past few months and what can be done to keep residents informed, according to the release.

The announcement of the public safety forum follows comments from Evans earlier this week regarding a town hall concerning river deaths and efforts to prevent suicides. The event also was supposed to take place June 26 at Bicentennial Park.

Evans said the town hall was meant to address rumors of people being pulled out of the river in recent years meeting their deaths through foul play.

Two recent fatal shootings have occurred.

Tenzell Terry, 25, was killed in a May 29 shooting outside a west side apartment building. Fernando Contreras, 23, was killed in a June 1 shooting that wounded two other men in a residence on the northeast side of the city.

Two men and two teens were wounded in separate shootings in May. Other shootings have led to damage to buildings and vehicles, such as the one April 2 outside Merichka’s restaurant and a Joliet business plaza.

In 2019, a similar public event was held at Veterans of Foreign Wars Cantigny Post 367 regarding the outbreak of west side shootings. The event was held when Bob O’Dekirk was mayor and Al Roechner was the police chief.

At the time, police officials said they lacked cooperation from victims of the crimes and the community in their investigation of violent incidents.

In 2020, O’Dekirk had proposed an anti-violence task force for the city that was never created.