Fulton Market Residents Call On Police, Secret Service To Help Stop Armed Robberies, Counterfeits

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Merchants and residents in the hot Fulton Market neighborhood want to put a stop to a series of armed robberies and counterfeiters.  They called in Chicago Police and the U.S. Secret Service for a meeting Thursday.

Neither police nor the Secret Service would divulge what advice they gave, but Fulton Market Association Executive Director Roger Romanelli said he wants more than advice.  He wants security cameras, paid for with TIF money.

Romanelli said the surplus in city TIF funds is huge, and should go toward improved lighting around businesses and condos.  He especially wants to see TIF money directed toward surveillance cameras inside and outside of businesses.

There's also the matter of how and when police and federal agents will move.  Gone are the days when someone can be detained just for looking suspicious.  Romanelli said changing a phony $20, $50 or $100 bill to get evidence while the counterfeiter walks away is expensive, especially when the bill is an obvious fake.