Friday night the Evanston and Chicago Police Departments joined together for a public showing called the "Outdoor Roll Call System - in which both departments lined side-by-side in a known trouble area. Not only does this system give the officers from each department a chance to meet each other - it gives the citizens from each city a chance to do the same.
Friday I got to personally meet another loyal reader, South Evanstonian. She's the south Evanston border's version of our very own Dane Ronvik, who's pictured above in the bike helmet. I also got to meet for the first time, Alderman Ann Rainey from Evanston. What a little firecracker she is. A touch of humor to go along with some fiery comments about the building on the southwest corner of Damen and Howard. That's a story for another time.
Getting together in a forum like this allowed neighbors to share tips, communicate problem spots and generally chat about neighborhood issues more freely than any CAPS meeting I've attended. It's more casual, less pressured environment to talk about issues of the day. Plus it shows the gangs who potentially want to take back this corner, they're not going to be welcomed with open arms.
The two police commanders, Bruce Rottner and Richard Eddington addressed the troops. Both thanked the officers and neighbors for their help in fighting the gangs, guns and drugs that have been killing people from both cities.
Everyone who showed knows, there's lot's more crime fighting to do. Those who couldn't or don't care to show up for these public display, outdoor roll-calls should make time or reconsider their stance. For the money, they impact the community far greater than the lame, politically motivated CAPS program. Neighbors getting outside and meeting each other and meeting the police officers who do their best to protect the neighborhood under the circumstances and funds they are given.
BLOGNOTES: Here's Sunday's question. What do you think of Outdoor Roll Calls?
21 comments:
I think they're great! Look at all the wonderful people you met in a span of 20 minutes. :)
Seriously, here are my impressions of outdoor roll call:
1) It was visually impressive. Our men and women looked sharp, and there were a LOT of them! Having an entire shift together at one time sent the community a message that there are many, many people -- both police and civilian activists -- working to make this area safer.
2) The interactions, as you mentioned, were invaluable. It was nice to chat with some of my favorite beat officers in a relaxed situation; it was also great to meet Chicago activist counterparts. This meeting may have inspired a re-connection between CAPS and the Brummel Park Neighborhood Watch -- let's hope it works out!
3) It was nice to be able to thank all the officers who are working so hard to protect and help this community. They have one of the most difficult jobs in the world; every chance we get to express our gratitude is time well-spent!
So yes, I think the outdoor roll calls are great. I suspect that a lot was accomplished among the REAL movers and shakers of Howard that day.
They are a great thing.
I have taken my childern to several of these over the years.
They like the lights and sirens.
Brings Police and citizens together for a common anti crime discourse and display.
Both police and citizens should continue in this discourse everyday.
My wife and I have taught our 4 year old daughter that if she is lost or stolen to find policeman and ask for assistance.
She can recite EL stop, Metra stop our address and phone number.
Some of the local police have even helped us rehearse for such occurrences.
Woking with the police is a family value that I am teaching at an early age.
Where was Joe Moore? Here was a chance to build the alliances that southevanston has been talking about and he missed a good opportunity.
Is he still not back from Washington working on DNC projects? Did he miss the memo?
I love roll calls also.
I like it. You see that you have two communities joining hands to fight the common problem, not blaming and trying to push problems on each other.
It shows that we have a very strong and neighborly joint community here, not a place where people are content just to isolate themselves in their homes and blame each other for their problems.
Now, if only we had the support from our leadership that Evanston has from its alderman, instead of an alderman who is trying to work against everything we are fighting to accomplish, we could be the strongest neighborhood in Chicago.
It's noon - 413 people have visited the site so far this morning. Only four of you have voiced an opinion on the outdoor roll call matter.
That's a sad statement for the state of affairs in Rogers Park.
Craig,
Don't be disheartened by a lack of comments. People don't always have something to add, but that doesn't mean they don't care.
This blog thing is a lot like gardening. Seeds of awareness grow at different rates and in different ways. Some people are never going to go to a roll call, but maybe they will be more ready to talk to a neighbor or call 911 at a critical moment. Or maybe they will go another time.
Keep doing what you're doing. More than 400 times, people had a chance to learn something here.
drove down Howard street 2 hours after roll call, business as usual. Bangers everywhere and no police. All just a feel good joke! It is not the police officers fault, they are hand-cuffed by the system. Even if they made arrests and there was actually space at county jail, they get complaints filed against them for excessive force and racism. Wake Up! The system has transformed the officers into armed report takers. It's not worth their effort. If you want to feel safe out on the streets, you will have to find somewhere else to live, for it shall never be safe anywhere in this city because the trash are all mobile in a city that doesn't lock them up. 10, 20, 30 arrests for each of theses dogs and where are they: still walking behind you to jump you! Stay safe- the only one who can protect you is yourself.
I'm not impressed with them. I'd be more impressed with cops actually spending time solving crimes, not harassing people, showing up promptly when called by citizens, not displaying attitudes, etc.
Well Craig, if your looking for responses, heres mine. I think that the outdoor roll calls are ridiculous and nothing more than a dog and pony show. They, as well as some of the other nonsense that they have these Officers doing such as seatbelt missions,DOC missions, POD missions, Public Violence missions, wolfpack missions, are all indicative of a system in which perception is far greater than reality. If they make you THINK that something is being done, then something must be getting done, if they make you THINK that there are enough CPD Officers, then there must be enough. It's all smoke and mirrors Craig. The man behind the curtain must be proud. But please don't blame the boys in blue for all of this. They just do what they are being told to do. Blame the guys that sit in cubicles over at 35th st. They are responsible for this.
BigDaddy -- the Evanston police were there too. I flatly reject that THEY are being manipulated by whomever has offices on 35th Street.
Even if a public roll call is mostly for display -- which it obviously IS -- that doesn't mitigate its impact. Perception shapes reality; some might go so far as to say that perception IS reality.
Boxingtomboy- they would show up promptly if they weren't attending outdoor roll calls.
"I'm not impressed with them. I'd be more impressed with cops actually spending time solving crimes, not harassing people, showing up promptly when called by citizens, not displaying attitudes, etc."
Tomboy--I'll bet you didn't go to the outdoor roll call did you? I bet you don't have the guts to tell the officers to their faces how much you don't appreciate what they do. Hell, they don't need your appreciation, they need you to obey the law, leash your dog, stop at the stop sign, talk to your neighbors about noise and such rather than calling 911 to report such nonsense. Then the police could do their jobs like clearing the streets of human trash, raising the gangbangers children, "harassing people" and all the rest of the goodies.
Alright! I give!
Last night was the third night in a row where I was awakened by what sounded like a firing range. Is anybody else hearing this? (FYI I'm near Rogers and Wolcott).
There were a lot of calls for shots fired yesterday on the scanner. Most were false alarms. People are firing off firecrackers.
As for the responses. I'm not discouraged, just shocked. Less than 1% of the people reading any given subject have thoughts or comments. I didn't know I had that many zombies reading my stuff.
Craig-
I don't think you should sweat a 1% reader to comment ratio. It was mentioned before and I agree: not everyone has something to add every time. If more people were posting on a regular basis it may even become an annoyance.
It's taken me over a year to feel comfortable enough to start writing in (I've been lurking the entire time prior to that).
Keep your chin up and thanks for all your hard work and attention.
-C
BigDaddy: The police do a roll call at the beginning of each shift, whether or not you see it. And then they go outside to their beats. My bet is that little extra time was "wasted" on gathering in a slightly different place than usual.
Excuse me blue,
I'm the daughter of a cop, in fact, he was the first African-American Illinois State policeman. I also dated a Cook County policeman for a long time. I know what good service police officers are capable of doing. I have no problem with telling the police where to get off, and I have done so many times, in person and via letters.
I had better things to do on that day and time then stand around and watch cops line up like kids in kindergarten saying, "Present!" to their teacher. I'm willing to support the police, but we still have open air drug markets, gangbangers having gun battles in the street, teenagers punching people in the face and taking their money, etc. Yet, when my apartment was broken into years ago, they took their time showing up, then were lackidaisical in handling the situation. My boxing coach has been harrassed for driving around of the guys in my gym, simply because he's white, the majority of them are African-American, and the cops assume some drug nonsense is going on. A former member of my church who worked to help the gangbangers change their ways was regularly harrassed for the same deal.
The police in Rogers Park are known as "Keystone Kops" because unfortunately, they do have a reputation of dropping the ball often. I'm willing to support them, but they've got to show me something. In the meantime, I'll keep my eyes open and keep up my self-defense skills, thank you.
not zombies craig, just spiders and bots searching your site. your number of actual humans reading is probably a lot, lot less than 400.
tomboy,
ask your dad what it is the police do, and then ask him why they have to "show you something".
cook county police work the courts, not the streets and what is an illinois state policeman? Are you talking about a state trooper?
You are extremely hypocritical. You wonder why the police showed up "late" to write you a report for your burglary...perhaps they were dealing with in progress crime. And funny they weren't on your time table. But yet you criticize them when they do something aggressive. So which is it, outdoor roll calls and burglary reports or interrupting the gangbangers (or innocent teenagers as you call them) from their daily hanging out on the corner letting them know hands-on-style that the police know who they are and what they are up to? How do the police get guns out of cars if you don't want them to stop any cars?
So liberals of Roger's Park do the police leave the people be (and its rather multi-cultural up here so we're talking all races here) or do they stop folks, check their credentials, look for anything suspicious and send you on your way? Which way do you want to live?
IMO, one of the most useful things about an outdoor roll call is having an opportunity to meet more of your neighbors and more of the police. Sometimes the conversations that start here plant good seeds towards later problem solving.
BTW, Evanston alderman Ann Rainey made a big push several years ago to get Evanston and Chicago police working together on and near Howard St. She's not a shrinking violet personality and can get things done.
Blue,
I can't ask my dad anything anymore. He died three years ago, and he was honored in City Council during a meeting in October of 2004.
By the way, one of my mother's cousins is a retired Chicago cop. I heard stories from both my dad and my second cousin about problems they encountered due to the law tying their hands while granting rights to criminals. I'm aware that the police don't have an easy job and the good cops are often stymied in trying to provide decent service.
I never said that gangbangers are "innocent teenagers". It is possible that you're also not aware that there are 40 and 50 year olds still claiming gang membership, too, and are just as much of a problem as the young ones? Do you not also know that most of them aren't intimidated or impressed by the police any more than they are by Average Joe and Jill Citizen? Some will kill a cop as soon as look at one, and will look at the jail time as a badge of honor.
What you call police aggressiveness amounts to little more than useless harrassment when it is based on the race of the people they're stopping, how they are dressed, because they are young, perceived to be in the "wrong" neighborhood, a white person hanging around African-American and/or Hispanics, etc. I have already stated that I'm in favor of the cops doing their jobs when they display common sense. What I'm not supporting is misuse of police power.
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