DUNNING — Police will hold an outdoor roll call Friday in the 3600 block of North Oriole Avenue, the site of a Monday shooting that didn't hurt anyone but nonetheless threw the normally quiet neighborhood into a panic.
Outdoor roll calls are a common tactic used by police to boost their visibility after ugly incidents and build new relationships in the process, Jefferson Park District Cmdr. Bill Looney said.
"We find that they help bring more attention to the officers, and get the officers to pay more attention to the block," Looney said of the practice. "And sometimes people will even come and give information that helps an investigation."
Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th), said he hopes to transition the 7 p.m. roll call into a subdued kind of block party, where officers and neighbors share pizza and get to know one another better.
"I can't believe how many people don't even know their neighbors who live right next door to them, and when you're talking about safety, that's a bad thing," Sposato said. "Back in my day, you couldn't get away with anything, because parents would be telling each other when they saw kids out drinking or smoking pot."
The shooting is still under investigation, Looney said.