Last week, Illinois Senator Ram Villivalam recognized the efforts of four organizations that assisted the community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including the Village of Skokie, Skokie Community Foundation (SCF), Skokie Chamber of Commerce and Niles Township.

In late March 2020, the Village and SCF partnered to create the Skokie Spirit Shines Through campaign to boost the community's spirits and raise funds to assist residents experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic. By early July 2020, the SCF had raised a total of $70,000 that the Village's Human Services Division allocated in $500 increments to Skokie residents in need. The campaign also included hundreds of resident photos that were posted on the Village website showing sidewalk chalk messages of hope, signs thanking first responders and much more, as well as yard signs printed and distributed by the SCF. See more information about the Skokie Spirit Shines Through campaign.

Sincere thanks to both Senator Villivalam for this recognition and to the SCF for their invaluable partnership in this important community effort. Congrats, too, to Niles Township and the Skokie Chamber of Commerce!

See more information on the Skokie Festival of Cultures. Click here to see the Village's award-winning 2017 video We are Skokie!

At last night’s Village Board meeting, the Board approved purchase of a full complement of body worn cameras (BWC) and additional system components for the Skokie Police Department. This approval follows a successful BWC pilot program the Village Board initiated for the fiscal year that ended on April 30, 2022. The pilot also addressed numerous comments received from the public during the community review of the Police Department's Use of Force Policies led by the Skokie Public Safety Commission during 2021. Concurrent to the Village's efforts, the Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act (SAFE-T Act) was signed into law which required the Skokie Police Department to deploy body worn cameras by January 1, 2024.

As law enforcement technology has progressed over the past decade, the Police

Department has added equipment, software and systems which have greatly increased its capabilities in numerous areas of responsibility. In the interest of both transparency and officer safety, camera systems have been introduced into Department vehicles and the detention facility and are utilized to capture digital evidence. Because these systems do not communicate with each other, significant inefficiencies exist in their use by the Department.

In recent years, vendors have made considerable progress in their efforts to remedy this serious, universal law enforcement issue by developing comprehensive products and technologies that seamlessly and efficiently address the various functions performed by law enforcement with a single operating system. In recent months, the Skokie Police Department conducted extensive research of five major vendors and concluded that Axon Systems produces and maintains the preeminent BWC platform and the best, most encompassing single-vendor system for the Department's needs.

The Village Board approved entering a five-year agreement with Axon Systems that includes 120 BWC units with unlimited storage, 40 squad car camera systems, tasers that integrate with the system, a drone platform, associated software and other components for a fully integrated, comprehensive system that will both provide transparency to the community and efficiency in operations. The Police Department's In-Car Video Cameras and Investigations Video Management System were already scheduled for replacement in FY23, and the Department has an existing contract with Axon for Electronic Control Devices (Tasers). Significant efficiencies will be achieved by integrating these key technologies with the new body worn cameras in a single Axon platform. The agreement with Axon systems includes regular product updates, training and numerous other features.

Learn more from the May 16, 2022 Village Board meeting video (begins at 10:25 mark).

This adorable baby bunny near Payne Street and Tripp Avenue was photographed by Joanna Brinceanu and sent to the Skokie Summer Scenes community photo exhibit.

Click here for more information on sending in photos from your Skokie summer adventures! Sponsored by the Skokie Fine Arts Commission.

6/13/202 - First day of early voting.

6/27/2022 - Last day of early voting.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced plans to convene meetings with its outside advisers on June 8, 21 and 22 to consider emergency use authorizations for pediatric COVID-19 shots.