A reader writes: "One..two...three...four...five Police cars and one paddy wagon...this follows more screaming youths running north on Sheridan around 4:40pm - one of them appears to have been apprehended in front of Alternatives after he was ordered by an officer to stop and he bolted...notice how oncoming traffic was stopped."
Spring is right around the corner. Yay!
ReplyDeleteStuff as many social services into one ward and then say "Just kids being kids". Well thought out plan. Voters tied of this yet?
ReplyDeleteSheesh. I guess being on every news outlet in Chicago and on MSNBC and CNN - as poster children for being out of control - isn't enough to satisfy these fools.
ReplyDeleteI was watching one of those supernanny shows about how to train children. They'll keep testing authority until they get the idea that authority actually means what they say. Apparently our problem children at Sheridan and Leland are slower than most. Like a three-year-old who keeps getting out of bed in the middle of the night, they'll have to learn that the community and the cops are dead serious that this won't be tolerated.
More youths with "attempted fisticuffs." 3-2-1... Helen blames this on her political enemies.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I'd like to see in terms of response. The majority of times after calls have been placed for situation s like this in our area, I've noticed most, if not all, police cars are travelling north on Sheridan. Once sirens go off, the group runs north. About a 1/2 block later, they're walking nonchalantly as if they weren't involved in anything.
ReplyDeleteWould it make sense to have police cars quickly coordinate with each other on the way to the scene and come from both north and south Sheridan?
I think the only reason why one guy was caught near Lakeside was that he was the only one still running. There just happened to be a police car close enough to catch up to him.
What I'd like to see? A real plan of cooperation between Town Hall (23rd) and Foster (20th) police districts. The few times I recall things being relatively calm along this district divide is when non-district specific teams are working the area (vice, gangs, etc.)
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason this activity happens on this stretch of Sheridan. The addition of the camera at Lawrence & Sheridan just pushed the activity north, which is why the eruptions near Leland last year are no surprise.
Suzanne raises a good point. Does this happen here because of the dividing line between the 23rd and 20th districts?
ReplyDeleteLawrence is the dividing line but I also know that Commanders Moy and Boehmer are coordinating efforts to address this particular site due to the high gang and drug activity in that area.
ReplyDeleteUCC will also be restarting positive loitering as it gets warmer. Stay tuned for the announcement.
These little brats congregate around Wilson and Sheridan. After the fight, the police did a couple of "stop and frisks" in front of the church on Wilson. As usual, the Police were all over them in a matter of seconds. Several fled North through the McDonalds lot, and the Police were there waiting for them.
ReplyDeleteOh, please. I've lived here since 1981 and we've heard the "we're coordinating efforts" line for at least that long. Ask for proof of that coordinated effort. I have. Guess what? Dollars to donuts it still doesn't exit.
ReplyDeleteMy thought is if you can't figure out a problem like this one after thirty years, it's time to ask for help. No shame in that. The shame is in pretending that you've got it covered when you don't.
It's not unlike the daily drop-off debacle in front of Christopher House. Year after year we're told, "we're working on it" but nothing changes.
Mark my words, someone will get hurt or worse before any of this changes. Only then will it become a priority.
Commanders Moy and Boehmer are coordinating efforts to address this particular site due to the high gang and drug activity in that area.
ReplyDeleteNo offense, but how difficult is it to park a squad car on Leland/Sheridan, or to increase police presence in a known hot spot?
I think 3 episodes within 8 months denotes a trend which requires a little more preventative response, and a little less "coordinating efforts".
Commanders Moy and Boehmer are coordinating efforts to address this particular site due to the high gang and drug activity in that area.
ReplyDeleteNo offense, but how difficult is it to park a squad car on Leland/Sheridan, or to increase police presence in a known hot spot ?
I think 3 episodes within 8 months denotes a trend which requires a little more preventative response, and a little less "coordinating efforts".
February 24, 2010 8:49 AM
-----------------------------------The solution is a dedicated foot man (beat cop) to run these punks off of corners and such. The problem is a highly dedicated but very short-handed Police force. The Police simply dont have the man power. Retirements and lack of Police hiring are the underlying problems. "55 and out" means veteran Officers can retire with full benefits, and those seasoned Officers will not be replaced anytime soon. Mr.Daley is crying poor on $$$ for Police hiring.
I agree with Yo.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya' Pep; but, this is not a matter of resources, it's a matter of creativity.
ReplyDeleteAnd of political will.
While I appreciate Hoy and Boehner making themselves available to the community as they have over the past few years, if we experience any more outbursts of violence at this very same location, it opens the door wide for people to start raising serious questions about their effectiveness.
As well as the effectiveness of the aldermen.
In short: Spare us the balloon juice - address the problem.
My drill sergeant during basic training summed it up, perfectly:
The effective range of an excuse is zero meters
I do see police parked at side streets just off Sheridan between Montrose and Lawrence. Not sure if they are patrolling the area...or just watching for people blowing stop signs... At least they have a presence!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if those complaining the loudest go to Beat 2312 CAPS meetings? Mmmmmm.
ReplyDeleteHey everyone, I had the chance to come to Miami and work on the Super Bowl and a Latin Awards show on Univision the last 2 weeks. I couldn't pass the work up and I see not much has changed in Uptown since I left in December. All the suggestions are good ones, now how do you get the police to try them?
ReplyDeleteBibi,
ReplyDeleteWhat were you doing on your car? ;-)
Jason, you know what I meant, Lol.
ReplyDeleteEnglish is not my first language and I can never get those prepositions right.
**I wonder if those complaining the loudest go to Beat 2312 CAPS meetings? Mmmmmm.**
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm tired of that trope. There are other ways that people constructively participate in the the community and engage the police. Making CAPS meetings the metric by which people are judged (or their opinions are considered) is a non-starter. Besides, what about all the 2nd and 3rd shift workers who will NEVER make a meeting? Don't they count?
Why not have the sqadrol (police truck) that sits for hours on the 600 W Montrose overpass in Lincoln Park move its ass to Leland and Sheridan? It can still wait for arrest calls while having having a useful presence during the time it waits between calls.
ReplyDeleteI wonder which is more of a metric of a concern for crime: participating with CAPS or complaining about the police?
ReplyDeleteAnd lets tell the owner of Mcdonalds at Wilson and Sheridan that "Mcgangbanger" should not be on the menu. These punks congregate in there all the time. Half of the punks on Sheridan spilled out of that McDonalds just before the brawl. Hamburglar ? Ok. Say no to gangbangers. Hint: Watch the brats in the red hats. Thats part of the crew.
ReplyDeleteI wonder which is more of a metric of a concern for crime: participating with CAPS or complaining about the police?
ReplyDeletePlease.
Not to disparage the cops, per se; but, what's the metric on the effectiveness of CAPs meetings if the same event repeats itself?
Actually, Pep - the owner of McD's has been helpful to the cause on several occasions.
ReplyDeleteHe's got little control over bangers in his place, if they're behaving themselves, there.
Yo, I wonder how effective it is to tell the cops how to do their jobs on a blog? CAPS isn't as effective as I want it to be, but shooting from the hip about the police not doing their job does not contribute to solving the problem.
ReplyDeleteThere is no magic bullet to solving crime on that stretch as much as we'd like to believe. The solution probably includes involving residents. CAPS is currently the recognized process to do that. If it ain't working, fix it but don't dismiss it.
I don't believe this is at Leland and Sheridan.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure anyone dissing the cops themselves, but Commanders Moy and Boehmer need to get it together quick or this is only going to get worse.
ReplyDeleteI think they are the ones who are looking bad, not the cops on the street.
Deja vue!
ReplyDeleteBut until we find that magic bullet to stop violence that continues to elude us all, there will always be more to do. In recent days I have had several conversations with community leaders about more creative and progressive solutions. To a person they have started with “Violence is not acceptable,” and followed that up with, “We have to do more about this and blaming you is not it. What more can we do together?” There have been a number of positive suggestions, and we are going to work on all of them.
*cough*
As for CAPS ... fix it? How?
A lot of us attend meetings, we do as the cops recommend, and yet ... it keeps happening.
Honestly, the next step of the process to aid in fixing CAPS is through the office of the lady quoted above.
And, ... honestly, I've been to more CAPS meetings than her.
So ... what do you think would be a good first step to fixing CAPS so that we can avoid gang outbursts from happening?
That party was off da chain!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis all sounds like a good topic at our next CAPS meeting. We can find out if the 2 commanders have started a new strategy that's different from before and we can see what we can do as a community to assist them in the effort.
ReplyDeleteAlderman Shiller and Uptown Students. Here is your vocabulary homework lesson for today: Read these definitions and determine which best describes what is occurring in Uptown along Wilson Avenue.
ReplyDeleteFrom Wikpedia:
Fisticuffs is fighting in which people try to hit each other with their fists. Bare-knuckle boxing (also known as bare-knuckle, prizefighting, or fisticuffs) is the original form of boxing closely related to ancient combat sports. Fisticuffs is slang for a fight.
A drive-by shooting (or drive-by or "D.B." for short) is a form of hit-and-run tactic, a personal attack carried out by an individual or individuals from a moving or momentarily stopped vehicle. It often results in bystanders being shot instead of, or as well as, the intended target. The objective is to overwhelm the target by a sudden, massive amount of firepower without attention to accuracy.
At the risk of starting a fire, a lot of us left the CAPS racket when city hall co-opted community policing. Originally, it was an idea and a practice that was a bit more radical than Daley was comfortable with and one that put the likes of the Guardian Angels on our streets.
ReplyDelete