In his 24th year with the Naperville Police Department, Chief Jason Arres says gun-related arrests in the city are becoming “more rampant” and something like he’s never seen prior to the past five years.
“And I’ve been on the SWAT team, and I’ve been undercover on the drug unit,” said Arres. “We’ve seen many, many more people who are either illegally carrying their firearms in the way of they’re not transporting correctly or have lost that right to carry a firearm in the state of Illinois and still choose to do so.”
Parking lot problems
Also trending is the mix of open cannabis and/or alcohol along with those firearms in plain sight in people’s vehicles, Chief Arres says.
“Sometimes that’s on a traffic stop. Many times, it’s in stationary vehicles, whether it’s at one business or in a parking lot where there’s a lot of people.”
One such parking lot is at Topgolf on Odyssey Court, with 25 gun-related arrests from August 2023 to October 2024 and nine such arrests so far this year alone.
The latest arrest there was of Kankakee resident Kent Rogers on April 18, suspected of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and illegal possession of cannabis. Officers were on patrol when they saw a parked vehicle with a handgun inside in plain view, according to a spokesperson from the Naperville Police Department.
When the vehicle’s occupants returned, the officers approached them. The original gun was found to be legally owned, though officers then educated the owner on proper storage of it inside a vehicle. However, during the search of the vehicle, a second gun was discovered. Rogers claimed ownership of that firearm, but officials say he did not have a valid FOID or CCL and was arrested.
But Chief Arres stresses that despite being in the news, that parking lot is not the only area where this is happening.
“We’ve recovered firearms everywhere,” said Chief Arres. “I don’t think it’s any of the business’s fault. It’s where you get a large group of people coming together from all different areas to come visit our town, chances are going to be higher that you find something illegal in the car.”
Proactive policing
So are such high-volume parking areas safe?
“Safe is the most subjective word, and I’ve learned that more and more in this career,” he said. “Because safe to me is different than safe to you. That’s going to be up to each individual to decide.”
Chief Arres said it’s important to note that most of the gun-related arrests have come as a result of police patrolling the area, with very few calls to the police department for a crime in progress.
“This is the result of proactive police work, knowing that we’ve dealt with individuals with drugs, guns, and open alcohol in their cars in the parking lot. So we’re going to continue to go to a spot until we can go there multiple nights in a row, multiple weeks in a row and not find something in those cars.”
Gun-related arrests growing nationally
It’s also not a uniquely Naperville problem, says Chief Arres.
“This is a nationwide issue. So why is it over the last few years that people have felt empowered to illegally carry their firearms? Are people feeling less safe? Why carry cannabis open like that? Is there confusion around the law? There’s so many interesting things going on right now in society that we’re seeing and trying to deal with,” Arres said.
Chief Arres hopes to find some answers, but in the meantime, will continue to hold those who have illegal guns accountable to keep Naperville safe.
“We are going to walk every heavily populated parking lot. We are going to look in your cars because that’s constitutionally allowed,” he said. “If we see something illegal, we’re probably going to say hello to you when you come back to your car.”
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