By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
While last week’s arrest of an unregistered sex offender near Cooper School has some residents worried, the apartment complex where he was housed hasn’t generated a large number of calls made to the police.
City of Burlington Police Lt. Brian Zmudzinski said Monday the property at 241 to 249 Amanda Street – named the Amanda House – may be the subject of conversation between neighbors, but a high volume of calls hasn’t occurred.
“I understand that 249 has been brought up to some council members,” Zmudzinski said. “Believe it or not, we haven’t had a lot of calls for service.”
In the last five years, there have been 22 calls, Zmudzinski said. Many of those calls, he said, are either medical related or welfare checks.
“I think the recent issue with Leon Hopson raised a lot of flags for a lot of people,” Zmudzinski said. “For a lot of people, perception is reality.
“I don’t live (there),” he conceded. “I don’t see what the people there are seeing.”
At least one resident in the area said last week the complex seems a breeding ground for crime. The resident, who said she lives at 240 Amanda Street, said she witnesses questionable activity all of the time.
Zmudzinski pointed out that the police respond to requests for service. If residents aren’t calling about problems, the police can’t allocate resources to them.
“Burlington has a variety of different problems,” Zmudzinski said. “We encourage people, if they are having problems, to notify us.”
Another issue with Hopson, however, was the fact that he didn’t update his sex offender registration. Zmudzinski said that created an information gap.
Zmudzinski also said that Illinois and Wisconsin don’t have a good way to exchange information. Hopson had to be looked up on the national crime database.
“A large part of the problem is that he is an Illinois resident, and there’s not great information exchange,” Zmudzinski said. “There’s no alert or notification that comes to our agency.”
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