Tinley Park officials stress safety aspects as reason for Fourth of July venue change during Feb. 7 meeting
TINLEY PARK, Ill. — While the tenor of the conversation has been greatly reduced, issues clearly remain between the Village of Tinley Park and the Tinley Park-Park District regarding the 2023 Fourth of July fireworks display.
But the message from Tinley Park officials during a recent Village Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 7, was that better communication was needed — whether internally, with the community or from the park district.
“At no point did I ever think that the consequences [of the Village putting on its own fireworks show] would be the park district canceling their event because of it,” Trustee Colleen Sullivan said. “I think we all need to work on communication with that, myself included.”
Several residents spoke during the meeting, asking why the change was being made and offering comments on what has transpired between the two governmental agencies.
“The village has had a lot of great things going on, and lately all I see is fighting,” one resident said. “I just don’t understand what is going on in this village anymore. Nobody talks to anybody anymore. I find it so sad. It’s turned into a very sad village. This July 4 thing has been a huge thing for people for 40 years … and it is a shame what you’re doing to this village.”
Another resident stated that he believed “the biggest thing that I hope the Village is learning and continues to learn is that communication is going to be key with your citizens.”
One resident, who said he was a retired police officer, said he believed the Village’s new site for the fireworks — the 80th Avenue train station parking lot — has safety issues not found at the former site, McCarthy Park.
“At the train station, in my opinion, we have eliminated the entire southside egress if somebody came from the north or westside,” he said. “Where does everybody go? You’ve got trains. You’ve got tracks. Where are all these thousands of people going to go? They are stuck.”
During the meeting, officials from the board and police department spoke about how the change was made for the sake of safety.
Police Chief Matthew Walsh used examples like the incident in Waukesha, Wisconsin and the Highland Park Fourth of July mass shooting. He also noted the threat that was made in Tinley Park hours after the Highland Park shooting.
Richard Free Press has reviewed an incident log of the threat that was made on July 4, 2022, and the police investigation that followed.
“We were 15 minutes away from canceling our display because we had a threat,” Walsh said. “Fortunately, our detectives worked with Orland Park, and we were able to locate the individual and place that individual under arrest just prior to us canceling it.”
He said after that, the police department had discussions internally and then with Village staff about how to better secure that and other events in the future.
Deputy Chief Tom Tilton also spoke during the meeting, stating that the new site will allow for a better opportunity to control traffic flow coming into the event. He also said that if they needed to, police would be able to evacuate the site easier.
“We can control traffic flow,” Tilton said. “We can do access point checks. We can control what is being brought into the perimeter. We have better [access] for fire, [emergency services] and command assets. It’s going to allow us to bring in new assets that are going to help us secure the folks that are going to come in. We have organized parking for upwards of 8,000 people as opposed to having to decongest the streets when the event is over.”
Tilton also stated that the new site gives police better sightlines and control of second-story buildings.
“It gives us an opportunity to remove a function of another venue, which has a bowl-like effect that sort of corrals people and makes it difficult to get them out of if there is a problem,” Tilton added.
He said the changes ultimately are to try to take away the incentive for someone to try and take an adverse action against those attending the event.
“What we want to do is limit the number of opportunities that they have,” he said.
But not all of the board members were in lockstep with the change. Trustee Diane Galante, who has previously asked why the Village was running its own fireworks event instead of partnering with the park district, stated that she does not believe the new site will be safer.
“I’m more concerned about the people getting off the train and now mingling with little kids,” she said. “I feel much safer [at the park].
“I don’t feel safer at that train station. I feel like anybody has access to get off that train. You’re not going to stop them. To give the appearance that you are going to come here and you’re going to definitely be safe, we can’t do that.”
Galante said she was disappointed by the move and asked if other police departments have the same stance on how to secure events now.
“There’s nobody out there that feels that we can have an event in our parks anymore?” she said. “That we can’t be safe in Tinley Park at our parks?”
Galante said she felt the decision was a “horrible mistake” and that traditions in the community are being “destroyed.” She also said she did not believe it was in the name of safety.
“The damage being done right now to our community is not going to be turned back,” she said.
Mayor Michael Glotz, however, maintained that the changes were made to better protect Tinley Park residents. He also complimented Walsh, Tilton, Deputy Chief Lawrence Rafferty, and other police leadership.
“No one on this board is a police officer or has been trained in public safety,” Glotz said. “I have never felt safer in my entire life of living here since 1994.
“I hate to say this, but our opinions don’t matter on where we do things when it comes to safety. We give our opinions to the Village manager, and he expresses them to the police. If the police agree, that’s great. If they don’t? Move on. None of us should be in the position of telling anyone how to put out a fire or keep anyone safe or put a water main in. That’s not our job. Our job here is to be part of the legislation that this Village needs.”
Glotz noted some of the challenges that exist at McCarthy Park that factored into the decision, such as difficult sightlines.
“Obviously, anything can happen anywhere — nothing is perfect,” he said. “But you want to put yourself in the best and safest position that you could possibly put yourself in.”
Glotz also said it has been tough for Village staff and officials to not respond to the comments being made on social media regarding the Village’s relationship with the park district and the Fourth of July issue. He said he and Village Manager Pat Carr have attempted several times to engage with TPPD Executive Director Shawn Roby on partnering in other ways for the event or the holiday weekend.
“The last [email], he won’t even respond,” Glotz said. “It’s been over a week. I left him a lengthy voicemail asking him to … stop this and let’s talk. Nothing.”
Glotz said the park district “chose to do this on their own.”
“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, but at the end of the day I [defer] to our police department,” Glotz said. “This is what they do for a living.”