To combat a rash of carjackings, a private security firm will be stationing guards at gas stations in areas of the city and suburbs that have been particularly hard-hit.
William Kates, CEO of Kates Detective and Security Agency, said that beginning Friday between 25 and 30 guards would be posted at various gas stations, mostly on the South Side, in an effort dubbed “Operation Safe Pump.” The guards will be in security vehicles with the lights flashing between 6 and 8 p.m.
The operation is expected to last for 30 days but could be extended.
Kates is partnering with Ald. Stephanie Coleman (16th) on the effort. Kates said he will be paying for the service.
“This is to help seniors, as well as women, to feel safe at service stations when they pump gas,” said Kates, who wasn’t sure if the guards would be armed.
The guards will be meant “more to deter than to detain,” Kates said during a news conference at an Englewood gas station at 59th Street and Ashland Avenue — the site of a Christmas Day carjacking that left a 63-year-old woman uninjured but badly shaken.
“No one is exempt from this other pandemic,” said Coleman, who called on other security firms to join in the effort.
“Our police department, they’re doing the best they can and we’re just here to help,” Coleman said.
Early Walker, who owns W&W Towing and runs I’m Telling Don’t Shoot, an anti-violence organization, said he came up with the idea because his company, through contracts with various police departments, regularly tows carjacked vehicles that are later found abandoned.
“I talk to a lot of victims and I often hear ‘I got carjacked at a gas station,’” said Walker, who reached out to Coleman to get the ball rolling.
A list of the gas stations where guards will be located is expected to be posted to www.imtellingdontshoot.com.
Chicago Police Supt. David Brown said Thursday there had been 144 carjackings since the beginning of the year.
The skyrocketing figure from the first three weeks of 2021 comes after the number of carjackings more than doubled to 1,417 carjackings in 2020.
“It pains me when people think of Chicago and all they think of is crime, guns and violence,” Coleman said, noting she hopes “Operation Safe Pump” helps change the narrative.
“This is what Chicago is about. ... It’s about family. It’s about helping each other out.”
