Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Security Camera Captures Drug Deal On Winona

A reader sends in the following photos and email:

"I want to point your attention to the three attachments to this e-mail of which I have attached for your review. We have been capturing daily drug deals by an individual on a consistent basis who wears the same jacket every time and has been causing havoc in the neighborhood. He has been the cause of people calling the police, namely Lakeshore Cleaners at 5060 N. Sheridan and causing problems in the strip mall in that area and in ours.I have attached three files of an open drug deal involving this individual dealing to an orange sports car along with other gang members. In photo #1 (spliced above), I have outlined the drug deal in a red box where this individual gets into the orange sports car does the deal and then exits while backing up traffic on Winona. In photo #2, this individual is still in view of the other gang members and the orange sports car walking down the street. In photo #3, this individual is seen in clear view with the suspect jacket behind the gang members and the orange car but within our view walking down Winona on a cell phone. This all took place today at 1019 W. Winona - Nov 30 @ 14:38. This suspect is seen constantly in our area performing drug deals and wearing a beige and red/burgundy mid length coat that is in a diamond checkered pattern. Feel free to contact me if you need further detail or a better video of this transaction. I just wanted to alert you that we have and are able to capture these transactions as they happen and we are capturing the same people - repeaters quite frequently."

13 comments:

  1. I assume this person has attempted to share the footage with police? That's where he needs to start.

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  2. Too bad the pictures couldn't capture the plate number of the car.

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  3. Good job. Good eye. By all means, alert the police. In fact, if this could be done without alerting attention to yourself, it might be cool to print these photos out, post them on a pole or something to let the guy know he's being watched. It just might make him at least move along. But if there's a chance it could bring you trouble, forget it.

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  4. And what do you want to bet that the customer in that sports car is NOT from the neighborhood, but rather from a more "upscale" nabe or suburb who'd rather come to Uptown to "score" rather than risk doing business with someone closer to home (or even "growing his own")?

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  5. Hi all, my neighbor posted this (I recognize the view!) and he's definitely in touch with the police. Our neck of Uptown is very lucky to have him.

    I think the camera has been a terrific thing for us, and his post gives you an idea of what you can accomplish with a private condo surveillance system...

    (1) See who's moving and shaking during the day when you're at work.

    (2) Send all this footage to the police so they have caught-red-handed evidence that is otherwise hard to come by.

    (3) Monitor who's trying to get into your building while residents are out.

    (4) Hopefully deter some activity once these not-so-bright dealers figure out that they're on camera. It's always amazing to me how much crap goes on right before my eyes... and these guys never bother to look up and see me watching from my balcony.

    (Also, you actually can often grab plate numbers with this system -- it's got incredible magnification.)

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  6. What do the police say about this?

    I may be able to get some shots at a different intersection of drug deals actually occurring. We as residents can send a message that we are watching everything they are doing on our streets.

    Power to the people.

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  7. I've always felt like that strip on Winona between Sheridan and Broadway was shady. There is a grade school located within a block of this drug dealing. That is a damn shame.

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  8. Is the resolution on the originals good enough to actually incriminate someone or is it mostly just guess work?

    also "ANother reason drugs should be legal!"

    Amen to that.

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  9. Yes... These pictures are 'stills' from moving video images and that is why they appear blurry in the views posted.

    The original video is crisp and clear as day. This scene is one of several that is captured at Kenmore & Winona daily.

    We are in constant communication with the police and have partnered with them. They are well aware of the situation and have been excellent keeping us in the loop and taking action on both long and short term plans.

    On another note: Our alderman (Shiller) has never been responsive to our neighborhood situation and has never helped, communicated, presented a plan, or showed up to neighborhood meetings when dealing with neighborhood crime.

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  10. Are the cameras linked into the city's system? They can be, depending on your system. Good catch!

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  11. Yes our cameras are are in the OEMC system. Our cameras are as good as the city's blue light police cameras as far as I am concerned. In fact, better because of the technology behind them - infrared night vision and complex DVR recording technology. We spent alot of money to do it - well worth it. We can post video to DVD and capture events at a moments notice with "clear vision' day or night.

    Bottom line: We and our neighbors will not tolerate gang violence. The Police gang teams have provided us with the tools to help us. These gangs are armed in many cases and so must we.

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  12. Where is Ron Durham to post how unethical it was to photograph this 'poor soul' who is just trying to 'make a living' in a white man dominated world who has kept this poor man from obtaining legal work? He's just trying to feed his family, and because of evil, gentrifying, white condo owners, he is forced to live a life of crime! Right Ron? Instead of 'victimizing' and 'persecuting' him, we should all purchase his wares so that his children won't have to grow up and be like their poor, misunderstood Daddy. Right Ron?

    Sigh... good work to whomever caught this on camera. Share with the police, they do take tips, the more specific, the better. I know this from personal experience. But, before you inform the police of what is going on, please, call Ron and let him know so he can videotape the bust to ensure that the poor, misunderstood 'distributor of narcotics' doesn't have his widdle feewings hurt by the po-po.

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