Beat 2311's CAPS meeting is tonight (first Tuesday of every month), 7pm, at Truman College's cafeteria. This beat includes Clifton, the Wilson el station, and the Sunnyside Mall. If you live in that area and/or have community concerns, please show up and participate.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
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Will someone please tape this and make sure to ASK IF HELEN IS THERE...or her staff seeing we all know the answer to the first question.
ReplyDelete..However, I think every CAPS meeting from now on, and I really do mean this, should start by someone asking, for the record, if our Alderman is there....not her staff, but the Alderman herself...
...lets start getting definitive records of her lack of caring about crime...
Maybe someone can include that question it in the minutes! You know she loves to "review them" with her office staff. I heard they spend about half of the day working on Public Safety Issues. Of course the other half they spend calling the residents of the 46th names.
ReplyDeleteNo one of Helen’s staff were at the meeting, if they were there they didn’t speak-up. I did see a gentleman who was sitting near me writing long notes. I didn’t have a chance to ask who he was.
ReplyDeleteFor a minute it looked like things were getting a little heated when the discussion and explanation of “loitering” came about. It was hard to hear but something about “get a hobby” was mentioned and words were exchanged until the CAPS staff put a polite stop to any more verbal exchanges. James Cappleman was there as well.
The Cop Watch/COURAJ group was there. Rather than focus on identifying and addressing issues of crime, their entire focus was spent criticizing people's perceptions of what they were witnessing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I offered what other organizations were doing outside of Beat 2311, this group accused me of not allowing them to positive loiter. I told them that when we do positive loitering, we welcome people of all races and all economic backgrounds to join us to make the neighborhood safer.
A few weeks ago, I did positive loitering and had a great conversation with a former gang member who also was upset with the street violence.
I will not support and participate in dialogue that uses an "us versus them" mentality. It runs counter to our work to engage the whole community to work together to address the street violence we're seeing.
That’s the one thing I don’t understand about Cop Watch/COURAJ and the people who follow them. A good part of that meeting was just pointing fingers of “us versus them” mentality. One guy laughed when you mentioned about the Positive Loitering.
ReplyDeleteYet I find it funny and disturbing that they should support our alderman, with one hand pandering to them with “Yes, I’m with you & don’t like gentrification, etc. etc.” and her other hand reaching out to developers who want to build or rehab buildings by giving her “campaign contributions”. Don’t they all know their being fooled?
James, Thanks for all the work and time you and Richard do for the Uptown area. I’m glad that you will not participate in that negative dialogue.
so, two more CAPS meetings Shiller has not attended... I think we should set up a camera in front of the COPWATCH headquarters on Kenmore and just tape them and follow them around...
ReplyDeleteUptown SuperHero are you suggesting that we watch the watchers?
ReplyDeleteGeez, even on the westside, the land that time forgot, the Alderperson at least sends a represenative to a CAPS meeting if he/she cannot attend.
ReplyDelete