Saturday, September 3, 2005
* The James Report
Hi all,
We now have access to recorded images from security cameras at 1345 West Lunt and from the 1340 West Morse side of the building. The program is specialized, and to view images you need the program. Images can be converted to other forms, such as media player, and I expect that someone will find a way to do this soon.
However, the program is available to anyone who wants it.
The camera company representatives are working on the additional camera installation for the Lunt lobby, but did not give a completion date. They continue to work on the e-mail system, which may solve the file conversion issues.
Chris has said that he and Mr. Block will provide any footage requested, and I have received several examples. Mostly, these cds show people either hanging out or entering and leaving the buildings.
The tape from 25 August is very disturbing. For those of you not already aware of this incident, I will summarize briefly.
A man and woman were arguing, then physically abusing each other. Both of these people are tenants of 1345 West Lunt building. The recording clearly shows a mutually abusive encounter, with both man and woman striking each other with closed fists. A couple minutes into this, four young men on bicycles pull up and attack the man, forcing him to the ground and stomping on him as his girlfriend attempts to stop them.
The action moves off camera for a few minutes, then continues on camera for another minute or so. During this time one man throws a bicycle at and strikes another man. Craig can be seen in the middle of all this, and then the police arrive.
They grab everyone, and can be seen ordering Craig away. They interview the various people, then release them. It is true that none were required to present identification. The tape ends with the police departing and the woman sitting alone in the well before the doors.
I brought the tape to the 24th district and played it for a sergeant, who clarified the police position. The Sergeant stated that since not one of the victims of the various batteries wished to sign a complaint, they were unable to file charges. The officer also stated that had the police witnessed the acts themselves, it would be possible to file some charges, most likely disorderly conduct, but that was all.
Craig would have been a potential complainant only had he been an actual victim.
That policy presents some other issues. The first is that this particular couple has three children, and these kids need our help because if what happened the other day is an indication of the state of things in their home, they are in an explosive situation and could become endangered.
The next is the tenant conduct issue, and Dan Sullivan made the helpful suggestion that including a rider in leases that prohibits domestic violence, including unprosecuted incidents, would address this.
The remaining matters deal with the limits of police responses. This is something that is supposed to be dealt with through the CAPS process, and that does not currently happen. The police essentially have orders to file charges when possible, but not to waste resources on unsuccessful prosecutions. This makes sense when viewed through the prism of maximizing quantifiable results.
This policy also makes it look as though crime is reduced, when in reality only arrest numbers are down. It doesn’t mean that the police aren’t out there making arrests. It means their duties have been so narrowly defined that they are unable to address some of the problems the citizens are most concerned about.
This incident points up a need for several other available responses. We need to determine what those are, then request police help in applying them. If the police can’t arrest people who exhibit anti-social or even violent behavior, we need a good alternative.
In cases like this, referrals for social-service counseling should be provided. We are working to develop a plan that can quickly get abusive partners the help they need and provide some incentive for accepting that help. The police will cooperate if it reduces the number of dangerous domestic disturbance calls.
As for the juveniles involved in the beating, a new policy for dealing with police encounters with delinquent youths is needed. This refers to non-arrest situations, and it must include police involvement to work. A group is coming together now to design that response. It is going to take time because it will involve several agencies and need a bi-lingual component.
Finally, I have the program disc for these tapes, if anyone would like it.
James Ginderske
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6 comments:
Excellent! Craig, call me and tell me about the system so I can relay the info to our slumlords. Elzie can afford a camera that works! So can AIMCO.
Hi Craig,
I've been reading the blogspot most of the summer.
I can't tell you how much I appreciate your maintenance of this forum. It's one of the best tools we have in this neighborhood. I do not have the software to become an official blogger on the website, so I am hoping you will just post this for me.
I've wanted to tell you about the experiences I had
around watering the front parkway for hours, and
watching during that time, the gang activity that was going on. This was in late June and early July for about three weeks. but it's old news and too harrowing for me to repeat it all.
Suffice it to say that I made numerous calls to 911 and 311.
Sometimes 311 connected me directly with the precinct desk to register a complaint. I walked up and down the street with a plain-clothes officer and showed him what I'd seen. Another time, I turned in an under-age kid on a bike loitering outside the building next door east (1325 Lunt)(same kid I had seen in the uniform doing the running many times before) -- it was around 11:00 at night --there's a minor dressed in the night's contact colors -- that night it was black -- loitering in the door way of the emptied out building undergoing rehab where all day and all night in days previous young and not-as-young men in white t-shirts hung out. . . what could be going on?
I won't go into any more details. And then I just gave up.
I gave up because I felt physically ill --I think it did something to my blood pressure and just my guts in general -- not to mention to my psyche -- fear of being shot in the head, guilt for feeling like a racist, anger at those blog comments that glorified the ghetto -- telling
us we would all be sorry when this neighborhood got gentrified and we didn't have things like they were "back in the day." We all know we don't want lily-white gentrification -- we just want our neighborhood comfortable and friendly and clean. Anyway, i really felt like i was losing my mind fighting a losing battle.
Those gang kids and drug dealers and pimps are better organized and protective of each other than we or the police in our area are of our neighborhood, I thought. Really, those kids have it down.
Well then, you know, to get well, I cooled it. I ignored it when I was on the street or sitting at the coffee house. I didn't water the parkway. I couldn't bring myself to go to the 3 recent caps and neighborhood meetings.
Then I talked with James a few times and said a few words to Don (or Dan -- can't recall his name for sure.) And you know I really felt a little better knowing
that I wasn't the only one noticing this gang stuff. (By the way I think the gang problem has gotten steadily worse since the fall of 2003 -- at least that's when i first noticed the vandalism to our shrubs out front begining -- poor things are being systematically broken down inch by inch -- maybe we should just put rock out in front. I digress but it does really hurt me to see what these thugs have done to some plain old defensless bushes -- no one catches them doing it of course -- so it's a major source of depression for me -- makes me feel powerless.)
So, after all this rambling I have 4 up-to-date things to say.
First, on a practical note, I think that to get out of sight of the surveillance cameras, activity is probably going on near the gates of our gangway on the east (around 1325 Lunt.) This just based on a couple of observations as I've walked down the street at various times. So what should we do? Put a camera on the NE corner of our
building too to see around that corner and even farther down the street? (I have to say, thank the Good Lord that we got some streetlights that do a better job
of elumination. Who was responsible for that?)
Second, I really appreciate James's attitude about things. I think he is fostering the germ of a great plan to make this neighborhood better. The whole idea that we could ally ourselves with law enforcement and devcorp and rpcan and the alderman's office makes sense -- but i believe the only way this can be effective is to be WELL-ORGANIZED, VOCAL (with the ideal tone being that of mutual respect,) and VIGILANT with these organizations in the sense that we don't back down -- we don't give up. And in order to not give up, we -- the neighbors -- have to SHOW SUPPORT FOR EACH OTHER and keep each other from getting oh-so-worn-down by it all. (And when I say VOCAL and VIGILANT I am simultaneously thinkng of the voice of Mayor Nagin of New Orleans, bless his heart -- you have to hear his radio interview of a day or two ago.)
Third, I have lots of questions -- community youth outreach, yes but how? -- and also how?? when it comes to just being of some aid to people whose crime
stems from poverty and disenfranchisement and powerlessness outside the realm of drugs and guns and money -- how can a little neighborhood deal with that?? how?? really, we need to think about that. The Dear Lord knows this frickin' Bush regime doesn't give a rat's ass.
Maybe the gut-wrenching debaucle of the last few days in New Orleans will raise this country's awareness of just how screwed are the poor (and in NO, mostly Black.) (By the way, Eyes on the Prize is going to be on PBS again this fall.) I want to hear some very new, very loud protesting about ecomomic injustice after
all this. Who's going to say what needs to be said? -- who's going to lead the protest? somebody with more energy than I -- maybe Mayor Nagin in his next job
-- I love that man. Again, I digress.
Fourth, I'm willing to organize something for the community (youth or not-so-youth) around gardening and care of plants and trees. I could organize
something around creative writing or journaling or storytelling. I could organize something around drawing. Both of the last things require only a
marking instrument and some paper (maybe the backs of those propaganda flyers.) Also, I would like to approach all the homeowners and building managers on my block with the notion that they should clean up the trash (that the thugs don't know how to dispose of properly) and weeds along the sidewalk to keep things
looking like they demand to be respected -- you've probably seen those Rogers Park Respect signs around. Maybe then also ask the same of the shops along
Glenwood (some residents are good about this already.) These are things I can do.
Here are some thoughts about community-building events. Maybe we could start a poetry slam project right here with that guy who started the slam at the Green
Mill -- I heard about something he was doing in the parks this summer that really engaged the public. Maybe we could do a soup/sandwich kitchen on Sundays or whenever. Or does this just sound like it's too difficult to do. Or do I sound like some stupid yuppie??
Ok, I've said all I had to say tonight. It's late. I'm going to bed. I hope you can post this -- I know it's long winded.
Sincerely,
Renee
Thanks Renee, Keep the comments coming. And thanks for taking care of the trees and plants on Lunt this summer.
Ok -- I feel like a fool for offering the idea of a poetry slam type thing. It was an idea in general. I was thinking of aesthetics and the idea that maybe non-gang activities in the neighborhood might also be a way of showing that we as a community are standing OUR ground too. This community can mean more than just gangs and murders and dealing and poverty and human shit on the street.
Talking to the police on my own and understanding the ins and outs of the Alderman's office, as two examples, are some things I don't think I can do very well.
That's something you guys know better than I and are more capable and effective at, i think. I'm just responding to an earlier blog day when someone called for neighbors who need and want to speak up -- to speak up! I thought it was a call to offer assistance and unity. I think we need to plan activities for our neighborhood outside the Aldermans office and CAPS -- get it moving. Where's the Homeowner's Association? or a Lunt Ave Neighbors Association to include renters too. We need all parties on the corner 2 ce a month!! Come on!! That's all I'm saying. Can't we get things hoppin'? So too bad we didn't have a jazz fest this year.
Of course developing a stong neighborhood police force IS a top most priority. I tell ya, I do see more police in the neighborhood this summer than I have in
the 5yrs Ive lived here. This morning after I wrote the "what can we do/I can help in small ways" note, I went outside. It was about 1:30 am. I saw a patrol car from my vantage point at the gate -- twice. But just before that there was a white t-shirted gangbanger peeking out from the entrance of 1323 (or 1325? the rehab . . . ) Two guys came around the corner of Glenwood and Lunt, said hello to me as I stood on the sidewalk, met up with the white tee shirt guy, handshake, chit chat, the 2 guys headed east, the tshirt walked past me west to the alley and crossed the street -- so you know it's the same old thing, Imagine just going outside on a whim and there it is. I'll say it again --those kids have it down -- they are slick. Last word : WE NEED PLAIN CLOTHES POLICE OFFICERS OUT HERE. What can we do to get plainclothes out here? -- plain clothes that can communicate with the squad cars. Why not? I know we are just one little neighborhood in the whole big city.
And just one other thing to East of Gomorrah: Don't take that dismissive tone with me! That's how you alienate people! My will, intent, and contribution is not fluff!
Renee
James posted...
... the limits of police responses. This is something that is supposed to be dealt with through the CAPS process, and that does not currently happen. The police essentially have orders to file charges when possible, but not to waste resources on unsuccessful prosecutions. ...This policy also makes it look as though crime is reduced, when in reality only arrest numbers are down. It doesn’t mean that the police aren’t out there making arrests. It means their duties have been so narrowly defined that they are unable to address some of the problems the citizens are most concerned about.
Last week I spoke with Zenon J. Pet, Jr., owner of North Central Security, the security firm hired by DevCorp North using the local property tax increase known as Special Service Area #24. Also on the speaker phone was Mr. Pet's wife, Dawn, who is a Chicago Police officer in the 17th District and seems to be involved in the business. Some of their comments are relevant to James' post re: the limits of responses, so I would like to share my notes from the conversation.
I started out asking how he hooked up with DevCorp North. He said DevCorp North had specified that they only wanted off-duty Chicago policemen, and his firm had the ability to supply them. He said that this requirement is not so common because off-duty Chicago cops cost more than other security guards.
I asked what they were asked to do on Morse Avenue. He replied patrol, deter, take notes, and report back.
I noticed arrests were not on his list, so I asked. He said that his staff was legally empowered to make arrests.
I asked how many arrests his company had made or assisted in on Morse in their first 6 weeks on the job, and he said he did not have those figures available (which I took to mean there were none). He went on to explain that when an ON duty policeman makes an arrest, it is fraught with liability issues, and it is even riskier for private security guards. I got the impression that they did not want to be measured by the number of arrests.
He explained that in practice if they were in a position where an arrest seemed necessary, they would call the 24th District for back-up. He explained that his staff has scanners in their cars, so they can hear the 24th District radio, but Police Dept. policy prohibits broadcasting on dept. frequencies by private users. So his staff would use cell phones to call 911 just like the rest of us.
He disagreed with characterizations that his staff has a communication problem with the 24th District. He said some of his staff are off-duty 24th District cops. He said that his staff starts and ends each shift at the 24th District station. He claimed that his staff goes into the 24th house and checks the latest turn-over reports before heading out. He said there was informal but no formal reporting from his staff back to the 24th District.
He said that his company is contracted to supply 2 security guards, 5 days a week, 4 hours per day. He said there is no schedule. I pointed out that the drug dealers had a regular schedule, targeting the morning commute. He said there was no schedule because they don't want the bad guys to see a pattern. (But this makes it nearly impossible for us to audit their efforts and evaluate whether or not we are getting our money's worth from our property taxes. Whenever you don't see them it is because they are not scheduled).
My impression from the conversation is that the private security has been oversold to the neighborhood.
From their comments, I got the impression that they were familiar with the situation on Morse. I found Mr. Pet to be very open and forthcoming and eager to talk, with little defensiveness regarding his company's role in our neighborhood. I would encourage anyone concerned to call them. Their number is on Yahoo:
Zenon J. Pet, Jr., owner
North Central Security
5600 N Natoma Ave
Chicago, IL 60631-3129
(773) 467-1229
What good is 4 hours a day? With the amount of time it would take the two security officers to walk the length mor Morse, all that does is send the dealers inside, or on the move fora few minutes and they are back on the street.
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