Related article: D.C. police chief defends checkpoints
By Dan Rozek
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — Rolling Meadows police barricaded 12 entrances to a sprawling apartment complex, then set up a checkpoint at the only remaining entry in what officials said was an effort to reduce crime.
Owners of the 12 Oaks at Woodfield complex on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit contending the unusual crime-fighting tactic violates the civil rights of the 2,000 residents living there.
Police and city officials can’t arbitrarily block entrances with concrete construction barriers, said an attorney for the complex’s owners.
“We don’t live in a country where the way we deal with crime is to quarter off communities,” said Blake Horwitz, who represents owners, including managing partner Michael Sparks. “What they are doing here is more like what you do in a war or a state of emergency.”
The barricades went up on June 9. The only open entrance was monitored by police officers -- who initially stopped all vehicles, asking motorists why they were entering, Horwitz said. This week, officers are still monitoring the entrance for at least part of the day, but aren’t stopping all cars, he said.
The suit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago asks a judge to order the barricades removed.
Police said the barricades were necessary to reduce rising crime at the complex. Officers so far this year have responded to nearly as many “significant” crimes at the complex as they did all of last year, authorities said.
“We’re down there three or four times a day. It’s time to put an end to it,” said Deputy Police Chief Dave Scanlan.
Horwitz said the complex -- where rents are $800 to $1,300 monthly -- isn’t a high-crime area. “There’s much less crime than in many, many other communities,” he said.
Copyright 2008 The Chicago Sun-Times