In the wake of the street riots, muggings and shootings in Uptown, is it time to march in front of Alderman Shiller's office again? Use this post to discuss just that. Let your voices be heard loud and clear Uptown.
In the wake of the street riots, muggings and shootings in Uptown, is it time to march in front of Alderman Shiller's office again? Use this post to discuss just that. Let your voices be heard loud and clear Uptown.
I do know it's time to watch THIS video again:
ReplyDeleteAlderman Shiller - Soft on Crime
Hey everyone. The news media made it a point to say that Ald. Shiller is not returning phone calls. Sound familiar? It is with me. I am all in favor of getting a large group together to march on the aldermans office to demand a face to face townhall on security and safety. She wants town halls on fish farms, why not safety. I think a group of 300-400 people marching would get the media's attention. I suggest Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteIdeas?
If anyone is interested in sending emails on formulating a group to march on the aldermans office, please send me an email at sheridanleland@yahoo.com
ReplyDeletewe need to do something as a community to stop this chaos that is occuring. i have lived in uptwon for almost two years now and have enjoyed it, but recently the gun shots, groups of guys being rowdy, and the noise they are causing is getting unbearable. I no longer feel safe and hate having to leave my apartment for fear of what is on the streets.
ReplyDeletei dont know what we should and can do, but something is better than listening to this everynight.
ideas?? anyone?
We bought a condo in this "up and coming" neighborhood, 3 blocks from the disgusting events in this story, in 2006 (and luckily sold in 2007). There is nothing wrong with having a diverse city, but it seems the "diversity" is taki...ng over. This area is filled with beautiful new construction and businesses on one block, then the next you find a church/homeless shelter where the police have to be called nightly, the next block you have trendy restaurants and nightclubs, the next...scary characters milling around, drunk, passed out, panhandling, verbally accosting pedestrians, making it uncomfortable to walk down the street to get to the Red Line at any hour of the day or night. We now live about 2.5 miles from Uptown, but the violence seems to be taking over.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it about time Mayor Daley and Chicago Police Chief Jody Weis, step up and take control of the gangs and violence in Chicago? This may be a nightly event on the Southside, because the problem has become too large to take care of, but there is no reason for it to creep to the Northside. Is Mayor Daley too busy trying to secure the 2016 Olympics to take care of the issues at hand? Where is the police presence during the assaults that have occurred in Lincoln Park, Lakeview and in MY neighborhood, North Center/Roscoe Village? Funny, when I get off the train a few nights a week between 11:00 pm & 12:00 am at Addison/Lincoln, the police are literally parked at Dunkin' Donuts/31 Flavors. I walk up Lincoln (4 blocks) to get home and have seen no patrols.
I look forward a statement from Alderman Schiller, who as of today, has said nothing...and done nothing to make Uptown a safe area to live for the families that own condominiums, have mortgages and pay their taxes. Oh, they are also law abiding citizens who have jobs and don't riot in the streets with "rival neighbors." What is it going to take for Chicago Police to wake up...an innocent resident caught in the crossfire?
We need more police on the streets and our men in blue need a pay raise pronto. Pretty simple.
ReplyDeleteWhile I would support another march, its a symbolic gesture and I think we are past that. Alderman Shiller has made it clear that "its not her issue" and she has the low crime statistics of her police district to prove it. We all know, however, that so much is not being coded and put into the statistics to reflect the reality on the street. But especially in light of the situation in Englewood and other places, Uptown is doing comparatively well. (Not that that should be a comfort. The violence needs to stop everywhere.)
ReplyDeleteI would suggest we raise hell at the upcoming CAPS meeting and also at the upcoming Olympics forum at Truman. (The forums are almost finished at this point.) Helen Shiller's approach to public safety is warped but even if she was "on board" she couldn't really solve the problem without getting the city to release major funds to a) resolve the police contract issue and b) hire more officers to replace the ones they have lost through retirements and attrition over the past several years. The city is in a budget crisis and she'd have to be some kind of TIF crusader to call out Mayor Daley on how the TIF program is siphoning funds away from essential services like police and schools. That is not the alderman we have. Even if she wanted to point out the inequities of public spending in Chicago (as she did for many years as alderman and when she was publisher of Keep Strong)she has made her bed and now must lie in it.
So, forget about Helen Shiller. A city-wide coalition of average taxpayers needs to be developed to show that we care about school funding and public safety and that we are not amused by bread & circuses when the basics are not being taken care of. If you listen to Daley's idiotic statements to the press lately, I truly think that he still thinks we have the wool over our eyes. We need to show him and the rest of city council loud and proud that we do not. If people can't at least believe that their city government is honest (well honest enough by Chicago standards) and that there are forums for redress and that their tax dollars are going for the things people cannot provide on their own, then the city's tax base will erode because people will leave. That should be a scary prospect to the powers-that-be. We've already seen what hollowed out metropolitan regions look like when people and money leave city centers.
This incident was just a little over a year ago.
ReplyDeleteTruman College Student Killed in Gang Gunfire
It's sad to think that this dead young man's concerns about street gangs and violence still ring true.
I'm all for the neighborhood watch, but at the same time it can be very frustrating trying to get the community to follow through. Last year we tried to do this in Clarendon Park, 40-50 people showed up for the training, but when it came time to follow through there were only 5 of us who actually walked the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteIf this is going to work, the community has to be committed to being the eyes and ears every day and every night. We have to be such a strong presence that it is uncomfortable for these thugs to operate.
One march in front of Shiller's office will do NOTHING. Until the election in 2011 rolls around we have be out there every day and every night, committed to doing the work that the alderman will not do. Otherwise, all we can expect is more of the same violence that we have become used to.
Then in 2011 we have to vote Shiller and Daley out. Get rid of the machine and continue to work as a community until the neighborhood resembles the Uptown we all wanted when we decided to make Uptown our home.
I've been meaning to share this link for a while about how Daley closed down the central Loop TIF. Once again, Ben Joravsky nails it.
ReplyDeleteRed light cameras and blue lights cannot take the place of a well-trained, fully-staffed police force. This city needs to get its priorities straight because TIFs only make it feel like money can grow on trees.
Mr. Big Spender
I am willing to march anytime its set. Just let me know when and I will be there for sure. I am really sick and tired of this Helen Shiller that does nothing to make our ward healthy and safer that we all pay her to do. Let the news media know also when we do it to get them to show everyone how bad this alderwomen is running our ward with the problems that need attention NOW!!!!
ReplyDeletethe police need more presence in the area its a freaking joke. the only time the cops head up there is after a 911 call it seems. need more patrols and guys on the beat. although that's more easy said than done. Shiller needs pressure to get the rolling of the riff raff is not going to go away.
ReplyDeleteI think UU should put a clock back on the site... to start timing how long it actually takes Shiller, and not one of her office staff, to show up at a CAPS meeting =)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, Sassy! Great TIF article!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Uptown Update for bringing Uptown's most valuable assets, it's residents, a way to share information and connect! The unfortunate incident of the gang activity at Leland and Sheridan probably would have never made the news if a resident did not film it, and if Uptown Update weren't there to feature it! I hope Helen has a good retirement plan, she's gonna need it after the next election!
This is completely unacceptable. Helen Shiller is blatantly jeopardizing the safety of her ward. It is due time to escalate this matter. I have already contacted the Inspector General. Any other suggestions?
ReplyDeleteAld. Shiller's traditional response to concerns about safety is that it's just noise from her political foes and the "yuppies" who are over-reacting to Uptown's "traditional culture" (followed by, if you don't like it, move). Well, when four or five major media outlets show crystal clear video to Chicago and feel it's shocking enough to warrant the mainstream news, it's not just a few political foes of the alderman anymore.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see the media invited to any kind of march. Who gives a crap if Helen's there or not?
If the only way Shiller will recognize a problem and address our community issues, then we need to show up at her doorstep in droves!
ReplyDeleteSassy hit the bulls-eye with marching and their effectiveness. We've been marching in Uptown for years and it's had zero impact. Uptown's marches and rallies get good news coverage. So what?
ReplyDeleteWe have to change our tactics if we want to see results.
We've been going to CAPS for years. The police can't solve the deep rooted problems we have by themselves.
And now, with the distruction of any thriving retail overtaken over by the subsidized housing on Broadway & Montrose, you wonder when this urban planning nightmare will stop.
Citizens it's time to take back our community. Take back our TIF money and make sure it's used to create bustling thriving retail streets where lots of people have a reason to be walking, shopping, stopping for an ice cream, reading a book at a cafe. When the streets are bright, welcoming and filled with people for a positive reason; the gangs will disappear.
The fish farm is another Trojan Horse, just like the Crate & Barrel and movies theaters that were promised by Shiller years ago.
The gangs own the streets of Uptown. They feel safe and protected here. Not the average, law-abiding citizen.
Set the date and let's see if her staff are again armed with ball bats. We have FINALLY caught the eye of the press.
ReplyDeleteHi, Big Daddy. (What a great screen name BTW). I have been following the thread on Second City Cop and I am wondering if you could give me some more insight. I know it is an anonymous blog and so therefore prone to get a little negative by nature. However, there are quite a few posts along the lines of "liberal yuppie scum getting what they deserve for thinking they could be urban pioneers."
ReplyDeleteI don't follow that argument. Are these cops (if they are cops) saying that there are (and always will be) only a few neighborhoods that will be safe and that law abiding citizens should just stick to them because everything else is a lost cause or never going to change? If so, its oddly similar to the "if you don't like it here, leave" stance of the alderman and some of her supporters. Have we such low standards and little hope for poorer neighborhoods? Its as if these cops are buying into the status quo of where & how services are delivered and that citizens shouldn't be disturbing the established system. I don't know if this is pragmatic or defeatist or both???
I completely "get" the arguments about resources, lawsuits, working conditions, morale, etc. for why police response is as it is. (And I thought some of the comments about using up all the available cars for taking people in on this was especially compelling. With limited resources, it makes more sense to keep things free in case of a major disaster/problem.) But what I really don't understand is this blaming the victim thing (as loathsome as yuppie scum are I guess). Shouldn't cops theoretically want more law abiding people in the more marginal areas so that they can contribute something positive? Or, is whatever they contribute never enough and they are more likely just complainers or sitting ducks that the cops have to deal with now too? Is training such that cops find it easier to manage areas that are more homogeneous (or they can pretend are more homogeneous)? And, finally, don't these cops consider that having a better mix of people within the city limits helps raise city revenues which should be good for the department and for cops as taxpayers having to live in the city themselves? (Provided that tax money actually went for such things!) Not everyone can live in Lincoln Park, Edison Park, Saugenash or wherever these areas are that are supposed to be for the law-abiding people to go.
I'm really interested if you can shed some light on this perspective for me if you can. Thanks.
I am all for a rally/march, but it has to be large enough in numbers to get someone's attention. A few hundred people marching in the streets to the alerman's office and a CAPS meeting might just get more news coverage here.
ReplyDeletePlease see the latest post for an update. A protest at Truman with both Daley and Shiller's ear, as well as the media will be much more effective. Monday, 6pm, Truman College. Be there.
ReplyDeleteSassy, I will post tomorrow. I'm out the door on the way to work. I can shed much light on your post.
ReplyDeleteThanks, big daddy. Best of luck to you today. I wouldn't be too thrilled about putting on the kevlar in this heat! :)
ReplyDeleteWe should consider a second protest in front of Shiller's condo on Carmen, just east of Clark Street. It's a nice area and about as far away from true Uptown as you can get. It might be a nice wake-up call for her.
ReplyDeleteMy feelings toward our beloved Helen Shiller are well known.
ReplyDeleteThat being said marching in front of her house would be wrong.
Let her neighbors live in peace.
If Shiller lived next to me I wouldn't want folks out protesting in front of her place.
Sassy-
ReplyDeleteHere are my thoughts. I think that most policeman think that you moved into the neighborhood knowing (or should have known)that it wasn't a good one and because of that do not feel much sympathy for you. They fail to realize that it is because of you and thousands of others that the area will one day become a GOOD neighborhood. They also feel or know that most of those so called "urban pioneers", while wanting to live in a crime free area, will do nothing to support the police in cleaning those areas up but will instead side with the thug against the Police almost everytime. One need look no further than that incident on the bus a few months ago in which the Policeman was attempting to eject an unruly drunk from the bus for proof of that. Because the Policeman used some "bad words" HE was portrayed as the villain, not the unruly drunk. Same thing with this video. There should be no doubt that had the Officers gotten out of their cars and confronted these thugs and had the Police used force to either arrest them or get them to move, that this video would have been used against the Police to show how "out of control" we are or how "brutal" we are. Then there is the issue of the way some of your neighbors go about their business. Walking down the street totally oblivious to the danger lurking around them. Women walking alone late at night, people jogging with Ipods, people leaving things in plain view in their cars which results in thefts from auto. I do not belong to the "blame the victim crowd" but you have to admit that some of your neighbors do not exhibit much common sense when it comes to crime prevention. As far as good people bringing tax dollars into certain areas, we really do not care about that. We do not do what we do based uopn revenue.
Take that other site with a grain of salt. Coppers like to beef. They will complain about almost everything. But those that post there do not represent a majority of the Police Department. Many coppers don't even know it's there. So when you see talk about "yuppie scum", don't take it to heart.
One more thing. Me. I like to work in areas like 020,023,024. I like to do what I can to make those areas safe for you. Real crime, real victims.There is nothing and I mean nothing, more enjoyable than taking a real bad guy of the streets and putting him in jail for a long time. But while I'm going about the business of putting those that view you as prey, in jail where they belong, I am under no illusion that you or your neighbors are my friend. And that's why you see the type of Police response you did in this video. We know you will turn on us in a heartbeat.
Big Daddy - you had me up until your last statement - "We know you will turn on us in a heartbeat."
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you feel like "we" will turn on you. That sounds a little like playing the victim. A lot of us really support the police and need your help. Why the hell else would be go to CAPS - (which is a mixed bag in itself)?
Not everyone in this neighborhood is a wack job like the folks at CopWatch.
The Pirate is right.
ReplyDeleteThe Pirate is always right!
Protesting in front of someone's home is for thugs.
Miss Kitty-
ReplyDeleteTell me I'm wrong, tell me that that video would NOT turn up on the 10:00 news. Tell me that there wouldn't be an outcry against the big,bad,brutal Chicago Police Department. Tell me that a substansial part of that outcry will not come from Uptown. Tell me that I'm wrong, that we won't see that video night after night for weeks as we did in the Abatte case. Tell me that some of the jurors will not come from Uptown in that federal civil rights trial that those thugs will undoubtedly file against us and award those same thugs millions. Because we tried to make your neighborhood a little safer.
PS- I do not, nor do the vast majority of coppers I know, support Abatte. Just in case you were wondering.
One more thing I meant to add but forgot. Don't worry too much about this CopWatch. We don't. We find them rather amusing and nothing more than a bunch of punks that don't have a clue. But their kind have been around since the beginning of time and will be here for years to come. So what? The are nothing more than a minor annoyance. What bothers us/me is some of you who IMHO, are just a little too quick to buy into their nonsense.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could tell you that you are wrong Big Daddy, but I do know some ultra-liberal nut jobs - CopWatch - would use the video against you.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this neighborhood is so f-ed up, but I hope the cops know that the majority of us WANT and NEED their presence here.
A handful of idiots shouldn't prevent the police from doing what is right. Most of this neighborhood stands behind you no matter what you may think.
Didn't Helen Shiller protest outside of Mary Ann Smith's house with O.N.E. about Rickover Academy at Senn?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts, big daddy. When you say people will side with "the thug against the police almost everytime" all I can say is that I am surprised and dismayed if that is truly the perception out there. People in Uptown are attending CAPS meetings, calling 911, positive loitering, going to housing court, and doing neighborhood watches. There also doesn't seem to be any love by these same people for the tactics of CopWatch. Just because some people---loud and vocal people---would do as you say doesn't mean that they are the majority or certainly the majority of the yuppie scum urban pioneers. (I am getting a retro-90s kick by saying "yuppie scum" again!)
ReplyDeleteI think this issue of videotaping is something that PDs need to tackle head-on. Obviously, POs need to be well-trained according to a set of standards and procedures that are relatively uniform across PDs in the country. I'd imagine that there is little argument with that. But in addition, I think PDs should communicate with elected officials, the media and relevant community groups why these are the accepted procedures before a specific incident happens and tempers are high. Usually, the media splashes something sensational on the screen and suddenly everyone is an expert. Police work, like any other profession, involves judgment and judgment calls. People need to understand this better and distinguish true misconduct from common practices. If citizens think these common practices are just way out of line to begin with, then there are legal ways to fix the problem rather than endless cycles of Monday morning quarterbacking. No matter what, the video cameras are not going away. Therefore, PDs should find a way to show their cards a bit and the average joe citizen needs to understand that they don't just know police brutality when they see it. There are gray areas that need to be accounted for and taken seriously.
I wouldn't be concerned with CopWatch except for the fact that I saw Marc Kaplan sitting on the WYTIF advisory board.
ReplyDeleteYeah Yo - isn't that interesting that he is on that board but he doesn't own property here and the building he rents in is not part of the WY TIF?
ReplyDelete