The number 23 has signified greatness to those living in Chicagoland for years.
Its the now famous jersey number Michael Jordan used during his incredible career with the Bulls.
It was also Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg’s number during his exceptional career in Chicago.
Now the number 23 means something else altogether and is the opposite of positive.
23 is the stunning number of felony gun arrests that have occurred at Naperville’s TopGolf in the last year. If the police have found 23 guns, imagine how many must have been in there during this time? Hundreds?
Why the TopGolf is so popular amongst the gun toting felon crowd is a mystery. Equally as mysterious is the silence on this topic from City Hall. Comments on this ongoing situation have been slim to none from council.
A great deal of alcohol is sold at TopGolf. What are the chances that you can have this many armed felons drinking in one place and not eventually have a violent incident.
Zero percent.
Naperville residents, if you had 23 individual gun arrests from the parking lot at your house, it is a certainty Naperville would be taking you to court. Why does this business get a golden pass?
This matter demands a public hearing. Doing so would bring greater awareness to the issue, possibly help deter all these felons from coming here in the first place, and keep the heat on TopGolf to take maximum steps to secure their property.
We see the council agenda each meeting. Virtually everything on it is of far less consequence than the continued arrests at TopGolf.
As surprising as it may seem, I am in total agreement with CCWD on this issue. 23 felony gun arrests is 23 too many, and a clear indication that something more has to be done. I hope that City Council will add it to an upcoming meeting agenda for public and council discussion and action.
Again, I remind everyone of the similar problems in this area when the Odyssey facility was in operation (now an abandoned building waiting for redevelopment). It was never determined why this facility attracted lawbreakers.
Until the actual cause is determined, it makes no sense to blame TopGolf. Without knowing the cause, there is absolutely no reason to believe these people wouldn’t move to the Whirlyball facility next door if stopped at TopGolf.
It is my understanding that TopGolf is cooperating with the Naperville Police Department in this matter. What more is it reasonable to expect this business to do?
Jim- I am sorry that you are so dogmatically attached to the Odyssey nonsense- but you need to stop right now. One felony gun arrest at an entertainment establishment is cause for discussion and a heightened awareness by our Police. Averaging 2 per month with absolutely nothing being done about it except a little pearl clutching is a declaration of war against us, and you sir, are declaring yourself as an enemy combatant against decency.
Then- I told you so. You got another 6 gun-related felony arrests since I raised the red flag, are you satisfied yet? Still not enough blood flowing in the streets of Naperville for your lusts to be satisfied? Impressed with yourself that the “I know about how hard it is to run searches…” arguments you use? Cooperation has had zero effect on deterrence of this behavior. What is reasonable is for our City to end this threat through any and all legal means as quickly as possible. That would be responsible governance. You are using absurdist arguments about the problem moving next door- the enforcement of the kind of justice we need will see the problem solved completely, not encouraged to shift to a different part of the front yard.
WOW, Hyperbola much? What bloodshed? Who has been shot at the TopGolf facility?
Where or when did I ever say this situation is not cause for concern? When did I ever say finding guns illegally stored in parked cars was not alarming? When did I ever say the NPD should not bother with this situation and move on to more important crimes?
What I have said is jumping to conclusions not supported by any information discovered by investigations of these arrests is irresponsible. And any “solution” based on these irrational conclusions is nothing more than random “shoots in the dark” to try and solve this problem. Such actions would have just as much chance of making the situation worse as it would have to fix it.
The criminal pattern in this area, as shown by the previous crimes at the former Odyssey facility, indicates this is an environmental problem, not a business-related problem. That any business operating in this area is just as likely to become a victim of this criminal behavior as TopGolf and Odyssey have.
Since when has shutting down businesses in an area with higher crime rates been a solution to stop crime? If TopGolf were not working with NPD on this problem, then I would support some action against TopGolf, but that is not the situation.