Here are the facts of the situation
- The shooting occurred at approximately 4:30 yesterday afternoon near the intersection of Broadway and Wilson, when two known gang members began firing at each other from across the street.
- One individual was hit in the ankle by a ricocheted bullet. According to the Sergeant, it appears that this individual was an innocent bystander. Although his ankle was wounded, he is physically in good condition.
- As the police have been patrolling targeted "hot spot" locations, police were the first to make the call on shots fired and were on the scene in less than 30 seconds. At this time, no one has been arrested. Area 3 detectives are still investigating the incident.
I was standing near the corner of Broadway and Wilson when I heard the shots fired and witnessed people running and ducking for cover. Like you, I am appalled with the surge in violence our neighborhood has seen. September and May are the key months for gang recruitment and as gang violence has become more brazen all over the city, the superintendent has allocated more police to "hot spot" areas, including our ward. I will continue to work with the 20th and 23rd District Police, CAPS, and the community to address this increase.
Here's what you can do now
- If you have information about this shooting, please call Area 3 detectives at 312-744-8263. The more information that the detectives have, the better they can prevent these types of incidents.
- If there has been criminal activity in your neighborhood, please attend your area's CAPS meeting to report it. If you cannot attend, have a representative from your neighborhood attend. You can find your CAPS beat meeting here."
I have read this bog for quite awhile. I agree that the buildings where the gang bangers reside should be shut down & have the bangers be taken out of Uptown, yes getting the bad element out of a neighborhood as well as people who live in buildings like Lawrence House will make crime drop, increase home values & make Uptown a safer place to live.
ReplyDeleteQuestion! Where do you have these people live? What neighborhood & or town gets these people? That's the dilemma What do you do with this element, pushing the people from one neighborhood to another doesn't solve the problem , it just comes down to the attitude of " Not in my back-yard"
Robbins, Illinois. Perfect place for all of them.
ReplyDeleteAll this sentiment about just shutting down all the "problem buildings" is just so wrong. Make hundreds or thousands of innocent people suffer because of the actions of a few? That is so wrong. Especially given that it seems many of the gang bangers involved don't come from these buildings or Uptown.
ReplyDeleteWether the Gangbangers come from Uptown or Not, there is a reason that they come to Uptown... Business.. There is a large market for what they deal around here. They are fighting over the territory, it's competition like a Starbucks opening up next to a Caribu. Except with the coffe shops the baristas don't shoot at eachother.
ReplyDeleteRemove the customer base (aka drug users, addicts, people who don't want to help themselves let alone get help), and they'll go deal drugs and shoot at eachother elsewhere. The blighted store fronts and empty residences will never be filled as long as this continues.
Sean, I agree that making innocent people to suffer because of the actions of a few is wrong. Perhaps you should voice that sentiment to the Uptown People's Law Center, where they fight to keep the bad apples from being evicted from problem buildings. They are counterproductively advocating for the bangers (and their regulars) at the expense of the "hundreds or thousands of innocent people."
ReplyDeletenugatory, actually I won't do that. Call me un-American, but while I'd like to see the active criminals thrown out, I believe everyone deserves due process and legal representation in legal procedings.
ReplyDeleteSean, you are talking about Uptown Chicago right? Not Minneapolis? Because most of the bangers doing the dirty deeds here are residents of magnolia, malden, sunnyside, hazel/windsor and the list goes on.
ReplyDeleteWe need to kick out anyone that is complicit. If that means kicking out 75-year old ladies because Johnny B Bad has been staying with her, then we need to do it! We can and will never clean up Uptown as long as building management is allowed to skate by while the residents they house are disopbeying laws and putting our lives at risk. The time for political correctness and all that jazz has passed. We need to get our hands dirty.
Sean, who is representing the innocent bystanders in eviction proceedings? The banger usually has better representation than the landlord, at the expense of fellow residents and the neighborhood. People are entitled to representation for criminal proceedings, and should be entitled to representation for civil rights proceedings. I disagree wholeheartedly that representation is an entitlement in eviction proceedings. Due process, yes. But all the process that is due in eviction proceedings is notice and an opportunity to be heard. Let's think big picture: you think a landlord wants to evict a tenant who pays his/her rent and obeys the law? The tenant is fully protected and never needs a lawyer when he pays rent and obeys the law.
ReplyDeleteJust sayin
ReplyDeleteAlderman James Cappleman, who represents the 46th Ward, said his community struggles with a number of building owners who manage their properties "very, very poorly" but still are helped by the city's Low Income Housing Trust Fund.
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Cappleman said there were 13 troubled buildings in his ward, and that "four or five" of them were getting rental subsidy from the trust fund.
"There's a lot of drug traffic inside those buildings. And it's caused a lot of concern for the residents living there and also for the residents in the surrounding community," he said.
"There are some buildings with multiple, multiple numbers of code violations, and getting them to respond in a manner that's quick and efficient is next to impossible."
Sean
ReplyDeleteI agree but as I stated you kick them out of one neighborhood or town problem solved, Or is it? I know that the area around Wrigley field in the 70's had gang issues, prostitutes & a high crime rate. Neighborhood got cleaned up. But the problem didn't go away. That my friends is the fact as a society we have to face. Moving the criminal element around from one place to another doesn't SOLVE anything, we just push the problem to someplace else.
Ryne is the point of this blog to solve societies greater problems?
ReplyDeleteI think not. There are so many people that keep saying that moving out the problems doesnt solve anything, YES it does, it moves them away from us. Whats wrong with that? That is the solution.
The point of the blog is discuss Uptowns problems and how to solve them, yes.... You solve it by getting out the trouble people/buildings...
You beat me to that post YO,
I would like to know what are the 13 problem buildings that cappleman is referring to...
Ryne--Gang bangers and others have the choice to live anywhere they want through the choices they make. Live within the law or suffer the consequences. The consequences may include jail, causing those who love them to be evicted, and losing out on future job opportunities and government benefits.
ReplyDeleteSomething everyone can agree to is illegal behavior has to stop and will no longer be tolerated by community leadership: Drug sales, violence, public intoxication and urination, gang recruitment, etc.
Other behavior contributes to this, including violating public housing leases, and that will no longer be tolerated.
People can choose to stop the illegal behavior and stay in the community, or pay the consequences of their behavior including jail or eviction.
I'll "have these people" live anywhere they want, even Uptown, as long as they follow the law. This applies to residents of shelters, rehab centers, condos, single family homes, etc.
You can't shut down the buildings. There are a mix of people in them. good and bad. You need CAMERAS on the comings and goings of each entrance. If you're not doing anything wrong, you won't care about the cameras, you'll actually be grateful for the safety precaution.
ReplyDelete