Well, well, what do we have here? Looks like a police camera has reappeared after a long absence at the corner of Magnolia and Wilson. Many residents were upset when the camera was moved so it will be a welcome sight. We look forward to seeing more cameras at Lawrence and Sheridan and on the Sunnyside Mall. Thanks to the reader who sent in this photo.
If you have any questions about the blue light program and where and when the next ones will be installed, we urge you to join the Walk & Talk with the police commanders of both the 23rd and 20th Districts Thursday evening at 7 pm.
I saw this when I got home from work, and it definitely put a smile on my face. I hope it cuts down on the loitering at that corner.
ReplyDeleteI just moved in to the neighborhood, into the 'evil' condos on the southeast corner of Magnolia/Sunnyside. I doubt they will put another camera near the mall. Our association is being turned over by the developer soon. I will definitely mention getting private security cameras on this intersection because we have a pretty good view of the mall and surrounding area. There would probably need to be help from the community to help pay for it, but I imagine it would be a worthy investment for the area.
I saw this tonight around 5PM. Must be the warm climate, but there were about 5 times as many people bustling about on this corner compared to a typical night in November.
ReplyDeleteare there any statistics as to whether or not these cameras actually deter crime? or does it just make it easier to catch criminals after the fact?
ReplyDeletenot trying to be contrary, i honestly want to know and would appreciate any additional knowledge UUers can share.
i am excited about any measure the neighborhood is putting forth in crime prevention. i dunno, maybe i'm a product of a skeptical generation and maybe i'm bitter about recent abuses of power...but part of me is a little leery of the big brother nature of a neighborhood patrolled by cameras.
i'd much rather have more beat cops. physical presence does deter crime and creates a sense of community with the police force. but i understand that this is a lot more expensive.
i'd love more information on these camera's effectiveness if anyone has facts.
Daa, D! Can we get pass the "abuse" crap and focus on the community? That's the same mantra of the Kaplan/Shiller/Son-of-Shiller/gangbangers/vote pimps. Cameras have resulted in numerous crimes being solved.
ReplyDeleteGees! I was just trying to ask a question.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is freaking angry and defensive on this thing. Would be nice if this blog could be about open discussion and dispersement of information instead of just angry diatribe and bandwagoning. Respect would be nice.
BuenaPk, since you know that it has helped I would love more information. Seriously, I want to learn more - that is in no way contrary to what you've said. Please let me know of any resources that you have gotten this info from.
I'm just trying to be an informed citizen.
And the abuse is related to the community. Don't make assumptions about me. A good citizen doesn't blindly say yes, but keeps an eye on things, even when they appear to be good.
Kaplan/Shiller/Son-of-Shiller/gangbangers/vote pimps - yeah, that's not stereotyping or uninformed or anything. Buena Park
All I did was ask a question for more info. Chill, dude.
Yeah, I'm curious to know if these things truly deter any crime. Perhaps they prevent loitering and other issues from happening within close proximity ---- but does that simply move the riff-raff a few hundred feet in another direction?
ReplyDeleteReason I ask is beacuase I live on Magnolia, it's arguably one of the nicer streets in Sheridan Park - and this light really adds a little "ghetto nasty" to my place's curb appeal.
I doubt the camera is as effective as increased pedestrian-police presence?
The downside to these lights - is a perceptive one - if a neighborhood looks ghetto - it's probably ghetto. That's not the kind of image I'd like visitors of Sheridan Park to recieve.
I KNOW PEOPLE ARE GOING TO RIP INTO THIS POST. PLEASE DO. I'M JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE REAL VALUE OF THESE BLUE LIGHTS, because to the best of my knowloedge - I've only seen them in Cabrini Green, Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and other well known areas of sketchiness. If these cameras are not quantatatively effective in reducing crime (not simply shifting it over to the next block), then I think they hurt me and my property value more than they help.
Just sayin'
This is how they put at at our CAPS meeting:
ReplyDeleteThe first blue light camera in Uptown was installed at Magnolia and Wilson. After a while, it was moved down the street to Wilson and Sheridan.
The homeowners in the Wilson/Magnolia area have been begging the police ever since to have it replaced, as they have seen crime return to their neighborhood after the camera was removed.
Anecdotal, but ...
I've only seen them in Cabrini Green, Humboldt Park, Garfield Park, and other well known areas of sketchiness.
ReplyDeleteThere's one at Belmont and Broadway, which doesn't fit the definition of ghetto. Just saying, I welcome them and consider them the mark of a neighborhood that just got safer.
Uptown, although not perfect, is far from being a ghetto.
ReplyDeleteGo to CAPS meetings. Ask the officers about the effectiveness of the cameras.
ReplyDeleted...
ReplyDeleteI beg to differ, Uptown has many sections which have become very ghettoesque. If Helen and her minions have their way it will become more ghettoized evry year.
Bradley, i guess the definition of ghetto is up for interpretation.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying there isn't crime and poverty, but you've been lucky enough to not be exposed to really crime and poverty if you thing Uptown is a ghetto.
Median income $38,883
avg house listing: $313,383
Heck, Buena Park is littered with mansions. Not just houses. Mansions.
Still very middle class. Yes there have been a few closed business but over all there is a thriving retail district with new and more upscale places coming in all the time. Sure these might not be your Gaps and boutiques and Southport lot (Thank God!) but they are lively and industrious business that serve the community.
I live in Sheridan Park - arguable the least polished part of Uptown - and as much as there are problem i would like to see the community address, it's relatively safe, attractive and alive with commerce.
Before you hatemongers say it - yes I know some of that "commerce" is illegal. But really. You're forcing my hand to a very Shiller statement about race and yuppies that I don't want to make. But then again, i'm not the one illustrating it.
Living on the North Side of Chicago there is a skewed version of what middle class is. Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square, Andersonville, Lakeview are upper middle class if not more. Just because people are over extended there doesn't make them "struggling to make ends meet"
There are several people in Uptown that are legitimately making this struggle, but diversity and strong community can help them.
Calling them ghetto, will not.
You call this place a ghetto, you believe that's all it could be, that's exactly what it becomes.
It's that philosphy that leads to this Wilson Yard dilemma. Of course they're gonna put failed public housing program in a place that everyone already thinks is a ghetto.
not helping. get perspective.
http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Uptown-Chicago/2959/market-trends/
and shiller is your elected representative. make sure she works for you.
ReplyDeletetoo many people are giving up, assuming she's just evil and will do bad things instead of asking your civil servant to represent you.
d or should I call you Denise?
ReplyDeleteI see this corner daily, and i can tell you that when the camera is there the corner is safer.
Finally I can eat at Three Harmony again!
This is going to be bad for the Black P Stones operation.
call me what you like, but my name isn't Denise.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the honest answer i was looking for, though. Shame we had to go through all this crap to get there.
Who are the Black P Stones.
d, you must be new to the hood. I could tell when you suggested that we ask our alderman to represent us. You'll find a trend of many people complaining that she doesn't represent them.
ReplyDeleteNow either they are all liars and Uptown keeps attracting liars to the neighborhood or there is some truth to what they are saying. I would suggest going to a CAPS meeting in any other ward and ask if there is a representative from the ward there. You will see a representative from the ward raise his or her hand.
Then go to a beat meeting within the 46th Ward and when you ask if there's a representative from the ward, look around and come back to this board and report what you see. Take your time. We already know the answer.
Is there more crime in Uptown? Well there is plenty of objective information to verify the truth. It sure would be nice to have an alderman who was interested in working with the community to make it safer. Well, perhaps when we get a new alderman because Helen will not change.
If a corner is safer after a camera is installed, then should there be a camera on every corner?
ReplyDeleteWhile I applaud your enthusiasm for safety, your are inevitably welcoming a police state here in Chicago. It may seem like a stretch to say that the cameras that are intended to keep crime away would ever be used against the peaceful citizens of the area, the threat of Big Brother is not far off. Remember that '1984' didn't come about by force, in fact, Big Brother was welcomed with open arms.
ReplyDeleteI feel the same case is happening here. Be warned. We are sacrificing our liberties in exchange for this 'security'. As Thomas Jefferson said, "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Again, your motive for a safe neighborhood is applauded, but turning it over to the Chicago Police may not be the safest.
In the UK, there are CCTV cameras everywhere, particularly in areas where crimes have been reported. There are signs notifying the public of this fact. (Rather like a big flashing blue light, in fact.) I feel safer. I don't feel oppressed.
ReplyDeleteI will gladly give up the right to walk down the street without being on camera (which I am anyway... ever used at ATM?) for the right to walk home safely.
Your mileage may differ, but it doesn't make either of us wrong.
The day that they put a camera facing the entrance to your house, you may feel differently.
ReplyDeleteWe get cameras because the City is not forking over over the dough to pay for cops. Beat cops walking the neighborhood...being able to tell the difference between normal streetlife and impending criminal activity...would be surprisingly effective. Unfortunately, Uptown's particular history with the old CPD (I am talking early 60s - late 1970s here) matched with a declining willingness from the city to put more cops on the street has resulted in this patrol car approach which is just one step above robo-cop + big brother.
ReplyDeleteI believe that a well-trained police force that is integrated into the fabric of the neighborhood would increase public safety. However, between our history, our leadership and the city's budget woes I don't think we'll get it.
Well, I could say to you, the day that you get mugged in a place without a camera, you may feel differently.
ReplyDeleteBut that would be fear-mongering, and purely speculative on my part, now wouldn't it? How could I possibly know how you would feel in a purely imaginary situation, particularly since I don't know a thing about you except that you post on this blog?
Again, we may disagree on this issue, but that doesn't make either of us wrong.
Fear mongering indeed.
ReplyDeleteWhile you are entitled to your opinion about the subject of neighborhood surveillance, do realize that that may be one of the last opinions you will be able to hold with out a permit.
The more our lives become monitored, the more they become controlled. And so long as you are lock-step with what the city and state tell you, you will be fine. But you can say good-bye to entrusting society to monitor itself and say hello to being told how to live.
While your opinions, at least while you're allowed to have them, may not be 'wrong', they aren't very American either.
i'm not new to the area. though i love that there is all this guessing as to who i am (like it would be somehow incrimidating)
ReplyDeletejust saying that we are not powerless, no matter how painful it is to get her to recognize her responsibilities.
i'm all about safety. but there are many kinds of safety.
With respect to the Blue-Light-Cameras, and how they relate to the "Big-Brother" concept, could someone help me to understand why there should be any concern? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you're not doing anything you wouldn't want an in-the-flesh LEO to see you do, then what's the major malfunction?!?!
ReplyDeleteAs someone who lives a block away....it's my understanding (via a cop I talked to) is that the goal of most traffic cameras is to increase city revenue, via yellow-light infractions, NOT crime
ReplyDeleteah, trent, in a perfect world...
ReplyDeletestark mad, I believe you're confusing the police camera and the red light camera.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't believe that some of you think that "d" is a shillerista. Notice how she never claimed that any of us are racist or evil or even condo owners. Lets try not to scare off people.
WindyCityEagle, thanks
ReplyDelete