Winnetka adds private security amid police officer shortages

A private security firm will supplement overnight police patrols in the village of Winnetka amid officer shortages in the North Shore suburb.

An agreement with P4 Security Solutions, which took effect April 1, 2025, was approved 4-0 by the Winnetka Village Council on March 18. Under the agreement, P4 will provide two armed security officers in specialized, marked vehicles who will work within the village seven days a week between the hours of 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., patrolling specific neighborhoods and commercial areas, or the village as a whole.

The security officers will not have authority to make arrests, conduct traffic stops or participate in criminal investigations, according to information shared with the Village Council. They will, however, be additional sets of eyes and ears for the department, tasked with identifying and reporting suspicious incidents and criminal activity to law enforcement, said Winnetka Police Chief Brian O’Connell. They will also direct traffic, secure parameters of crash or crime scenes, and act as a deterrent to crime, he added.

“This partnership is currently unique for suburban police departments in Illinois, but this strategy has proven successful in a variety of settings,” O’Connell told Pioneer Press/Chicago Tribune. He noted that P4 Security Solutions has existing partnerships with Northwestern and DePaul Universities and the city of Chicago, where security officers are assigned to several neighborhoods, including Lincoln Park, Bucktown and the West Loop.