Give a little whistle
You can’t own a handgun in Oak Park, Illinois; it’s against the law.
You can, however, own a whistle:
Thousands of Oak Park residents are being equipped with a simple device to help fight crime in the village.
Police are passing out whistles that they are urging citizens to blow if they are victims of or witnesses to a crime.
Officers distributed hundreds of the shiny whistles at two stations along the CTA’s Green Line in Oak Park on Friday and will be passing out more Wednesday along the Blue Line. Giveaways elsewhere are expected to take place in the weeks ahead.
Just remember: when seconds count, the police are only minutes away.
(Via Jeff Brokaw.)
Jeff Brokaw »
10 December 2009 · 4:18 pm
It might be time to update the old saying: “like bringing a whistle to a gunfight”.
What gets me about these stories is the sense of accomplishment. “Here’s a whistle. Problem: Fixed!”
Right.
Jeffro »
10 December 2009 · 8:11 pm
If you whistle in the woods and no one hears, was there really a crime committed? I’ll bet a shiny new whistle will stop a rabid skunk right in it’s tracks, too. Can’t you just feel the angst and fear that armed criminals will suffer with all those whistles?
J.S.Bridges »
10 December 2009 · 10:13 pm
New slogan for their city limits signage: Oak Park, IL – Home Of The Shrilly Noisy And The Dead
fillyjonk »
11 December 2009 · 6:08 am
Yeah, they’ll hand out whistles until someone’s kid swallows one, then whistles will be against the law, too.
Donna B. »
11 December 2009 · 3:44 pm
I remember reading somewhere (I think it was at the Memphis police museum) about why cops had whistles instead of guns years ago. The idea was that the cop would witness a crime and blow the whistle to summon the help of citizens.
Of course, I could be remembering that wrong or it was BS in the first place.
And why are cops called cops?
CGHill »
11 December 2009 · 5:06 pm
Amazingly, it’s short for “coppers,” which derives from the old “seize” definition of “cop,” the verb. They can, after all, arrest you.
(Webster’s New Collegiate is forever, or anyway for 28 years so far, at my side.)