After seeing an influx of burglaries of bars and restaurants with video gaming terminals, Oak Lawn and Alsip are among municipalities that recently legalized security foggers to help businesses fight back.

“Our Police Department has been taxed here quite a bit trying to resolve these crimes,” Oak Lawn Mayor Terry Vorderer said during a July 28 meeting where the Village Board voted to legalize the use of security foggers. “But now we’ll have a technology — hopefully many of our establishments will install it — and we can greatly discourage these.”

Fog systems, like those provided by Density USA, based in Kirkwood, Missouri, are activated through a business’ existing security system or a key fob, and activate once security is breached.

“Within a second or two, they’re going to have fog covering those products, and you wouldn’t be able to see where they were in that space,” according to Density USA President and chief operating officer Mike Egel.

He described fog as “the final layer” of a business’ security profile, though they can be too expensive, ranging from a couple thousand to a few thousand dollars, depending on the size of the business.

“Right now, knock on wood, fog is still undefeated,” he said.

Offenders can be difficult to catch if police aren’t able to respond right away, said Oak Lawn police Chief Daniel Vittorio and Chicago Ridge Chief Anthony Layman, as many are able to get in and out of the businesses in just a few minutes and wear masks and gloves to avoid being identified through security camera footage.

Over the past few weeks, Joey’s Red Hots in Burbank along with Sam’s Bar and Gaming and Nick’s BBQ in Homer Glen were targets of the “smash-and-grab” burglaries.

Hashtag 95, a brunch restaurant on West 95th Street in Oak Lawn, removed its five video gaming terminals after its second burglary about five months ago, according to general manager Madelyn Mullen.

Mullen said after the first burglary, not much was taken from the machines, as they had been emptied the previous day.

“The second time we were robbed, the machines were actually down, I don’t know if it was like maintenance or something, so I don’t think they got anything the second time,” she said. “So for us and the gaming company, they didn’t lose a lot of cash, it was more the physical, like the machines themselves.”

But because the perpetrators smashed through the business’ front window, either with a vehicle or sledgehammer, that damage alone cost about $1,000 each time, Mullen said.

“And they never come into the restaurant — they don’t touch the cash register or anything behind the bar,” Mullen said. “They go straight for the machines.”

Mullen reported a similar pattern as police, where crews spend only a few minutes inside a given business, usually in the early morning, to steal whatever cash is inside the terminals and ATM machines.

She said Hashtag 95’s owner is hoping to eventually bring back the terminals and may implement additional security measures such as foggers, but “that’s something that he’s going to have to figure out with the gaming company.”

Density USA provided a firsthand look into how its system works to Alsip officials, convincing fire Chief Tom Styczynski of its efficacy.

Styczynski said the training tower used for the demonstration, about the size of a shipping container, was completely filled with smoke within 30 seconds.

“You couldn’t even see your hand in front of you,” he said.

But while he supports the technology, Styczynski said he wanted to make sure an ordinance allowing for their use accounted for potential adverse effects.

Of immediate concern was making sure that firefighters could tell the difference between smoke and security fog if called to a specific location.

“The first thing we want to do is make sure that when the fog goes off, we have an indicator, so we’re requiring an orange strobe on each side of the building,” he said. “So when our guys pull up, they see the strobe, and they know that the fog machine went off.”

More restrictive was a requirement that businesses use a system that includes a shunt key, which the village can use to shut down the system in case of power failure. Styczynski said some companies offered to provide the Fire Department with a key fob or code, but “that is not fail safe.”

He said a representative with one fogger security company came to Alsip Village Hall, asking to have a meeting with the mayor to propose changes to the ordinance.

“I was like, ‘I’m not bending,’” Styczynski said.

As of Aug. 12, Styczynski said Alsip had not provided any permits to businesses to use the foggers.

Oak Lawn’s ordinance is less restrictive, requiring a permit through the Building Department and a sign outside the business in all capital letters reading “Warning: security fogging system installed. System may activate when business is closed. Call 911 in an emergency.

Vittorio said a couple of businesses already installed security shutters in response to the influx in gaming terminal burglaries, and he hopes to see more apply for permits for foggers.

Vittorio said he believes the foggers will be especially useful in Oak Lawn, as perpetrators have learned that, unlike in some other communities that lack the same manpower, officers will thoroughly investigate each burglary.

“They know if they come to Oak Lawn … we’re going to follow it up,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can.”

ostevens@chicagotribune.com