Crime & Safety

State Sen. Kirk Dillard's Home Hit in String of Recent Burglaries

Dillard said Friday he's pushing for state regulations that would help police investigate residential burglaries in the Chicago suburbs that involve jewelry theft.

The Hinsdale home of state Sen. Kirk Dillard, whose 24th District includes Elmhurst, is among those that have been burglarized this spring and the senator says he's pushing for state legislation that will help local law enforcement investigate such burglaries. 

"I am trying to curtail the number of residential burglaries which has swept through the western suburbs ... and other parts of the city," Dillard said during a Friday morning conference call with media members.

Dillard said by talking with suburban police officials he has learned that most of the residential burglars that have victimized residents in Hinsdale and the surrounding area steal jewelry they quickly sell to cash-for-gold businesses. Dillard said those businesses are not currently mandated to keep sufficient transaction records and sellers can make the exchange "with no trail whatsoever."

Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Burglaries in Elmhurst this year:

  • A Second Burglary Reported in Elmhurst This Week
  • Home on Yorkfield Broken Into
  • Multiple Burglaries Discovered Within a Short Distance and in a Short Time Period
  • Two Home Burglaries Discovered in Elmhurst

The senator said he wants to set up a task force that would include police officials and cash-for-gold business representatives in an effort to develop recording regulations similar to those required of pawn shops.

Find out what's happening in Elmhurstwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

With sale logs, investigators could go to a cash-for-gold business after a jewelry theft and be able to see who came in and what they sold. 

"I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s privacy, but we need to give law enforcement the ability to go back and be able to solve these residential burglaries," Dillard said.

Dillard confirmed his house was burglarized recently. He did not confirm the date, but a residential burglary was reported by Hinsdale police March 16 in the same block of the address listed for Dillard on the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

That burglary took place between 7:15 and 9:30 p.m., while the home was unoccupied. The burglar broke in through a back door and jewelry was taken from bedrooms within the home.

"Residential burglaries are a violation of one’s sanctity of their own home," Dillard said Friday.

The senator said the burglary of his own home did not alone spur him to action.

"I’ve had this bill in for well more than a year," Dillard said. "The bill was put in a long time before they hit my house."

Elmhurst Police Chief Michael Ruth shared his take on burglaries in an interview late last year.

"It's your home. What's more private than your home?" Ruth said last November. "And someone comes into your home and goes through your stuff. It's very tough. It affects people for a very long time."

Hinsdale Police Chief Brad Bloom told the Village of Hinsdale's Zoning and Public Safety (ZPS) Committee in March that, as of then, there had been a "higher than normal" number of burglaries in Hinsdale in 2013.

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