How fast is too fast? Inside Homewood's 'Wolfpack' speed crackdown

HOMEWOOD - Speeders rarely see them coming.

One officer sits quietly with a laser speed detector. Several others wait nearby, out of sight.

The moment a speeding vehicle is identified, the radio crackles and the pack moves.

Homewood police call the operation the "Wolfpack," a coordinated traffic enforcement strategy designed to reduce speeding on neighborhood streets where families, children and parks are just steps away.

In 2026 alone, the department has deployed the operation three times.

The goal is simple: make Homewood's streets safer.

"Wolves travel in packs and there's usually a leader of the pack," said Deputy Chief Thomas Johnson. "The leader of the pack is the guy doing the radar and calling out the speeding cars."

The backstory:

On a recent deployment, FOX Chicago's Tia Ewing rode along with Officer Michael Chmielewski, a 10-year veteran who grew up in Homewood and now patrols the same streets he once called home.

"I was born and raised here," Chmielewski said. "I know the area better."

The enforcement zone wasn't a busy interstate or major highway – it was a residential roadway lined with homes, parks and families.

Just yards away, three children rode bicycles through the neighborhood while officers monitored traffic.

"They're not part of the operation," Chmielewski explained. "But they're the reason for it."

Nearby sits a park district pool, basketball courts and residential neighborhoods where children regularly play outdoors.

"You still have people that are traveling way too fast in that area," he said.

To drivers passing by, Chmielewski's vehicle looks like an ordinary police car.

Inside, however, is a laser speed detection device capable of identifying a single speeding vehicle hundreds of feet away.

"You put that right on the front bumper," Chmielewski said while demonstrating the technology.

For several minutes, drivers complied with the speed limit. Then, the violations began.

Speed limit violations:

"Black Nissan. Forty-five."

Fifteen miles over the limit.

Minutes later:

"Red Mercedes SUV. Forty-six."

Sixteen over.

Then came the biggest violation of the day.

"White Toyota. Sixty miles an hour."

On a road posted at 30 miles per hour. Double the speed limit, and on the same street where children were riding bikes.

"We just did our Wolfpack last month," Johnson said. "Sixty-eight in a thirty was one of our higher ones."

Police say speeds like that can quickly turn into tragedy.

"We've actually had accidents on 183rd Street where that has happened before," Johnson said.

Some crashes, he added, have involved vehicles striking homes.

Dig deeper:

The Wolfpack operation has attracted attention online, generating thousands of views and plenty of debate.

"People are like, ‘Do you have anything better to do?’" said Homewood Police Officer Oscar Zendejas.

Police say they do.

Prevent crashes before they happen.

"We're preventing people from potentially causing car accidents," said Zendejas.

And sometimes, traffic stops reveal more than speeding.

During one stop, officers pulled over a driver traveling 45 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone.

Moments later, they discovered the driver did not have a valid license and had an active warrant.

The stop ended in an arrest, and the vehicle was towed from the scene.

As the operation continued, officers remained stationed along the roadway, watching and waiting.

No dramatic pursuits, no major crimes. Just enforcement designed to change driver behavior before someone gets hurt.

"We would hate to talk to your loved ones and tell them you were in an accident," Chmielewski said.

What's next:

Homewood police cannot always determine whether speed was the direct cause of a crash. But when investigators have enough evidence to issue citations for speeding or failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, the numbers tell a story.

The department issued 72 such tickets in 2024. That number rose to 99 in 2025.

So far in 2026, officers have issued 33.

Police say one reason the Wolfpack is effective is because drivers often react too late.

"What happens if they try to slow down once they spot you?" FOX Chicago asked.

"It's too late," Chmielewski responded. "I already have the number."

For Homewood police, the operation is not about writing tickets.

It's about preventing the knock on a family's door that no officer ever wants to make.

Using a $1,400 laser device, a coordinated team of officers and a strategy built around prevention, the Wolfpack waits.

Watching.

Listening.

Ready for the next driver who forgets one simple rule: Slow down.