KANKAKEE, Ill. — An online petition launched after the death of a 6-year-old boy in the Kankakee River earlier this week calls for the creation of a river and patrol team that can more quickly respond to emergencies.
The change.org petition created Wednesday had nearly reached its 500 signature goal by Friday afternoon.
Jamir Frazier fell off the dock and into the river at Beckman Park, near the 1600 block of Cobb Boulevard, on Tuesday afternoon. He was found dead a couple hours later.
The petition says the reliance on outside agencies delays response times.
“At present, we rely on dive teams from other agencies when a tragic accident occurs on the Kankakee River,” the petition reads in part. “The response time in these life or death situations can be 40 minutes or longer, wasting precious time that could be the difference between a rescue and a recovery. It is unjustifiable that a community that surrounds such a vital waterway does not have its own dedicated, local dive team.”
The petition requests local officials “allocate funds to hire experienced professionals” for a river patrol and dive team.
“We need support!!!,” a commenter on the petition wrote. “We have too many deaths each year in the river & the lack of swim & dive time is dangerous. How sad that we can afford to build a river walk & a new sports buildings but can’t have support for something that is so popular as an activity in the area. Shouldn’t this be a priority!?!!!”
A GoFundMe account established to assist Frazier’s family with funeral and burial costs raised more than $24,000 as of Friday afternoon.