2:35 PM: A brawl has broken out. Lot's of teens fighting at Ashland and North Shore. The wagon is asked to go to the scene.
2:37 PM: Strong Arm Robbery at 1439 West Lunt. Two male blacks in their 20's just robbed a man of $800 USC. The offenders may have blood on them, as the victim was bleeding pretty bad, according to the officer on scene.
2:48 PM: Officer calls for back-up for a large group fight at Clark and Pratt.
29 comments:
I saw that Ashland and North Shore brawl starting up. My bus was running a little late and as we left the school (after he arrived) coming down Bosworth, we saw a big group going west on North Shore, arguing.
Getting clobbered for $800-that hurts. I try not to walk around with that much if I can help it.
Yeah.
Hey Craig what's with that aggressive 9/16/09 post towards you at the Chicago News bench.
Where's the love & community solidarity?
For those who would rather see fights that are conducted by rules, and don't involve the police, come by the Loyola Park Fieldhouse at 7:00 PM on Friday, September 25th. It's time once again for the annual Loyola Park Boxing Show. Admittance is free.
Yours truly may have a match that night, but it's not in stone as of this writing. However, I will be singing the National Anthem again. Several other fieldhouses that have boxing programs will have their fighters there to compete with ours, so it ought to be a good time.
It is time, now, for Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce, to call for action.
But not action from the police--action from parents of these irresponsible teens. Actions from the social organizations who, here in Rogers Park so plentiful, have tended to, perhaps, make excuses for those who are responsible for the children they have created and borne.
This is not an attack on the women who have had to carry and bear the children.
It is not an attack upon the childrenn, per se, though some are of 'a knowledgable age'.
I address every male out there, black-yellow-orange-green-brown. You who know you can't keep IT in your pants. You who know how to manipulate the system, and get money from it via your "momma". You who know what 'the streets' mean.
YOU never learned, or never WANTED to learn, and now you think you can TERRORIZE others?
The time has definitely presented itself, for citizens to vote out the lazy, complacent incumbents (like U-NO-HOO?) who sanction this type of UNCIVILIZED behavior.
Sorry to say, folks, but NOW is the time to TAKE BACK THE STREETS, wherever your streets may be!
The intersection of Howard and Marshfield looks like a gang convention tonight. Both the east and west sides of Marshfield are filled with gang bangers and wanna bes.
The gang bangers are patrolling the area around the park district building like it is Fort Knox. Guess they want to keep it safe for the dedication ceremony tomorrow.
I hope our new police commander picks up where the old one left off. We need the North of Howard area cleaned up now!
its official,
this blog is a shadow of its former
self, but i cant blame craig for not being the fearless photog that he once was
and the block building has been usurped and is in better hands now.
but i know there is more going on in RP per day than just 3 things in one half hour
but what an action packed half hour
it was
North of Howard, South of Howard, all of Howard need's to be cleaned up! I lived close to the intersection of Howard and Western for 3 years and had to call the cops multiple times due to vandals, vagrants, gang-bangers, etc.
My wife and I always enjoyed eating dinner at the Candlelight (just south of Howard), but you really have to watch out when you leave, especially if it is later in the evening. We even tried eating outside when we first started going there, but gave up after the first time of being exposed to the night life of the North Western/South of Howard area. And to fuel the fire, a liquor store opened next to it, which always attracts the upper-crust of society!!
Rule of thumb: NEVER move next to a liquor store!
well reside on morse is a resounding success.
successfully pushing the gangbangers/whatever my way.
progress.
hmmph.
6914 n wayne is now where they are hanging out.
one call so far to police.
and the police are circling.
they have come by so far.
the steps at 6914 are cool
allowing them to hold forth.
one is standing on the sidewalk while the rest await the resulting discourse from up on high.
well craig.
now i know more about what you went through with the block building.
they are running out of places to be.
second call has been made.
not sure why the cops have not told the ruffians to leave the premises of 6914 n wayne.
but further calls will be made until they are told to leave.
they dont live there, so why should the peaceful citizens/denizens of rogers park have to deal with migrant bands of unsavory characters?
cops are by again.
i just want to know
which properties to watch.
6914 n wayne should not be a place to hang.
most every building on this stretch is in fine shape, and only one large apt building would fall under the category of slum landlord and no one hangs in front of that large building, which btw was for sale for 1.6 million a year or two ago, surprisingly no one bought it and it think its a 16 unit, its on the east side of the street. the west side has so slum housing. though one is of absentee stature and that is where they are perched.
of course
looks like they are gone, the cops have circled a third time,
thankyou men in blue.
for quick response.
since the morse theatre has closed and reside on morse is there.
the north side of morse is the safe side of the street. and there are cops just parked at the el or by morse and wayne like they used to so therefore the gang presence has been heavier and also their attempts to hang out on farwell have been more frequent.
i dont travel the south side of morse since its much dicier and much more vacant and more absentee landlord. but the tricky part is traveling under the viaduct because the gang people can hang under there too on the el side.
so its a game of cross street cross back or just walk down the middle of the street for a bit.
wtf?
and jb albertos has granite countertops, man those countertops are nice but the only way they would make me feel safer is if
i could wear them.
not sure why everyone is so quiet on broken heart,
did the neigborhood become that much safer?
or are people just apathetic?
that would make me sick.
why isnt anyone reporting what they see? or what is going on?
north of pratt is considered to be ghetto right?
im pretty sure these thugs are hanging south of pratt, atleast east of greenview. if so i would be surprised.
i would like to see a map of rogers park with the hot spots.
it would be interesting, because its such a dense neigborhood and its got lots of weird pockets.
mostly bad in the west. but not necessarily
So, you were alright with all the crap that happened around the old Block/Rider building - but when the crap goes down on your doorstep you have a fit.
What a NIMBY!
no i wasnt all right with how it was before craig. It was still scary walking down morse then and it has gotten better.
im just making an observation.
its not like they didnt hang out by my area before, but not exclusively in my area like now.
nico doesnt want them by his corner either(morse gyros), but there they are, hanging in front of that old greek guys building from hell with the interesting ghost laundry facilities
christ who isnt a nimby when it comes to unsavory characters hanging out in their area?
atleast im doing something about it, new lighting is up on the farwell and wayne corner and i call if i see bands of people hanging out with intimidating behavior.
my point was craig,
that maybe you have either mellowed out or you are ok with how things are in RP now that the unsavories arent in your neck of the woods (but i doubt this).
But anyways, if things are quieter and safer in your area, which im sure they are, then good, cause christ it was bad before and we all deserve a safe and relatively quiet neigborhood,
im not here to fight with fellow bloggers or blog hosts
just letting you guys know that things are not hunky dory in all parts of RP
It is time, now, for Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce, to call for action.
But not action from the police--action from parents of these irresponsible teens. Actions from the social organizations who, here in Rogers Park so plentiful, have tended to, perhaps, make excuses for those who are responsible for the children they have created and borne.
What?
No really, what?
Not sure where to post this - interesting article about Olympics in www.chicagobusiness.com - mentions our flipflop Alderman:
"It's a leap of faith," acknowledges Alderman Joe Moore (49th), a skeptic who ultimately voted to give Mr. Daley authorization to sign the host-city contract with the International Olympic Committee. The contract puts the city on the hook for all costs of staging the 2016 games if the IOC chooses Chicago over Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo on Oct. 2.
Here's the link to the article:
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?articleId=32386
meanwhile, Joe Moore sits at his desk...dreamily arranging donuts into the Olympic Rings pattern...oblivious to the violence in his ward.
jeffo - what are u talking about? north of pratt is ghetto? maybe further west but not hear the lake. I walk down Morse to go to grocery etc and don't like it but it would really help if they would clean it up - wash the sidewalks, put the long awaited streetscaping in, etc. I see the creeps, gangbangers, idiots - whatever they are - hanging out in front of nicos. I walk right through them with the dogs and they scramble - it's pretty funny!
I guess everybody just needs to keep doing their part, call 911, flag down the police, write and call Alderman's office (even if you do continue to get lame or no responses) etc.
I was going to comment on this, but can't think of anything new to say. I hate to say it but it's starting to sound like a lost cause, particularly when the alderman is saying nothing and the thugs are gaining a stronger foothold with no one to challenge them. I mean brawling in the street in the middle of the afternoon? Forty of them commandeering a street and only leaving when the cops make their THIRD pass around the block? Yes, there is an election coming up, but with no word from your elected officials, the thugs are getting more and more entrenched so that it will be IMPOSSIBLE to rid the community of them. And once they're in, they're pretty much in. I can't think of too many communities that have made a complete turnaround without letting it hit rock bottom first. Not saying it can't be done, but somebody better do something fast. Maybe the new police commander can come up with a plan, but that snowball rolling down that hill is gaining speed.
its not impossible,
but just takes persistence.
i only perceive to have a certain sphere of influence, but everyone has a certain area of influence
and if they turn tail and hide and put their heads up their butts then yeah they will stick around.
ofcourse as morse gets better it would be a bit weird to have gangbangers outside of a french bistro. but hey they could get a bit of culture too. and maybe get hired as a bouncer at the big new nightclub? just kidding.
but i think morse SLOWLY will improve. even the nice little mexican grocer is putting up a new sign. the mexican store owners arent stupid they are trying to survive as the neigborhood improves.
that nice little mexican grocer is busy all the time!!! that store makes a killing!! LOL
Streetscaping would do wonders for the street and clean it up. Loyola did some beautiful work over by the new apartment building. Of course, we wouldn't want anywhere that people can sit!! LOL I can never seem to get an answer as to when it will be done. All emails go into the black hole of "I'll pass your information on to the Alderman!" When some of the places on the street look ghetto - guess what they attract?
Man on the Street and anyone else who cares-
One of the main reasons the Police would drive around three times before they got out of their cars (IF they got out of their cars)before they said anything to these thugs is because morale is so low. And you can blame Jody Weis all you want but that's not, IMHO, the real reason. The real reason is because of groups like Copwatch, the extremely litigious socity we have today, a society in which the jury almost always sides with the plaintiff, the lack of support from the very community they serve and the newsmedia who will go out of their way to report any misconduct with the Police and then hammer us with those reports for weeks on end. How many times did we see the Tony Abatte story?
Police Officers are of the opinion that when they encounter thugs like this, there will be a confrontation and a refusal to disperse or obey the officer. That means that the Officer will have to use force. Which means there will be at a minimum, a complaint and possibly, a federal lawsuit. Lawsuits in which the jurors are usually the same people who elect people like Todd Stroger, Richard Daley and Joe Moore into office time after time, election after election. These same jurors have been as of late, awarding punitive damages which are the responsibity of the defendant, the Officer. Like the two detectives in Area 5 who were hit with 66k apiece in damages because the plaintiffs, who were witnesses in a homicide, said the detectives held them in the Area against their will, even though they never beefed once in the Area. So the moral of the story is that it's better to take the path of least resistance. At least for now.
Copwatch. Who would want to be filmed as they go about their business? Enough said.
The communty. If you took all the posters on this blog who do seem to care and multipled it by one hundred, that would still be a small minority of the RP community. Which tells me, that when combined with the above, the community probably doesn't care. They do after all, do nothing to help themselves, beef about the police when they should be supporting them.
The news media. As I said before, how many times did we seen the Tony Abatte video? One hundred, one thousand? How many times did we need to see it. How many coppers support Tony Abatte? I can tell you the answer to that question is virtually none, yet they ran it day after day after day. How many times have we heard from the news media that the department is out of control even though those Officers charged or arrested are a very small percentage of the total Police Department?
Maybe this will all change one day but I don't see that happening very soon.
sorry to hear that morale is so low with the police.
They have a very tough job.
And I think they do the best they can. And Im doing what I can to help dissaude thugs from hanging out on the street ( means that dont involve calling the cops but does include calling 911).
They do overdo it with the anti-police stuff. I know that ofcourse with the poorest and most ignorant people have the worst opinion of the cops but thats because they usually need to be reprimanded by them and thats would enforces the rules instead of their parents
"little blank, its ok to hang out on the corner, but the bad policeman and uppity neighbors are evil and dont want you too. I cant teach you not to do that, let society at large raise you instead." said one older human to the younger related human in the same room as they breathed oxygen.
its not impossible,
but just takes persistence.
You're right. I usually am not this cynical, but lately... It's kinda depressing to hear about masses of people brawling in the street or commandeering entire street while the rest of the people who just want to live in peace are rendered impotent by elected officials who basically are saying, "Fuck it."
Jeffo, I am the last person to whine. I hate it when coppers or anybody else for that matter, whine about their lot in life. But this police job is not only tough, it is becoming virtually imposssible. They keep throwing up road blocks to making it better or easier.
I came on this job to give something back, to do what I could to make a difference, to make peoples lives better. I still believe in that idea. But it is becoming increasingly more difficult to accomplish that which is why I want out. Not because I want to take the easy way out. But because I can see in the not too distant future a society where the policeman is irrelevant. Because that's what society wants. And I for one will never be irrelevant. I will instead move on to something else. And that's the sad thing about it. You have thousands of coppers who WANT to do a good job, who feel as I do. But the rules are changing and not for the better. So we, the Police lose. But so do you. And that my friend is the kicker.
Things go in cycles. there was the bullshit PC crap during the clinton era. And I think we arent really up in arms about mailman, mailperson, mailwoman, or manpower, man stuff. Now we thinks its funny to say mandals and man this and man that. Maybe not the best example. But there was the rodney king stuff and some bad stuff that cops did and then the powers that be over do things the other way. Sometimes badguys need a little beat down. Ofcourse for 4plus whatever guys to waylaw someone for a long time, which is basically what muggers do themselves is not right. And you dont want to encroach on civil liberties. But you also dont want a criminal element hanging on your street corner for all hours at night intimidating people and bringing trouble to the neigborhood.
Alot of laws are stupid and one size fits all.
Americans and law people always overcompensate. And that just creates new problems. After 9/11 they encroached on peoples rights a bit TOO much in order to protect the USA.
enough bad stuff can and may happen though.
a couple of yuppies and their dog or kid get caught in the middle of one these bullshit fights and gets maimed or killed and all hell will break loose.
Im not sure how long you have been a cop, but we will always need cops. If not for you guys we would need martial law and the national guard to enforce a strict curfew or something
i personally feel that that cops have too put up with too much bullshit, too much cursing and too much disrespect.
You can see why they need to retire and get a pension after i believe is only 20 years.
i wouldnt call it whining.
I would just call it, talking about the bullshit that is wrong with life.
Life has lots of bullshit.
Every job has its fair share of bullshit. So talking about it is better than just holding it in.
Ofcourse ive seen overcomplainers too. You cant be put upon and dragging your ass nonstop either.
What choice do i have in Rogers Park? Ive made a choice to make a real investment in the neigborhood and have vowed to help out the neigborhood. I do see that the neigborhood is SLOWLY improving, we arent talking lightspeed, but yes when big buildings like the block building turn over into good hands that makes a HUGE difference fast.
I once told a 911 dispatcher that i will call every 20 minutes until some action is taken about the large group making noise in the middle of the night on the street corner is told to leave.
He responded, "well if thats what you feel like you have to do."
He wouldnt let me respond, he kept talking, I had to hangup on him eventually.
I have to call, I cant put up with such negative behavior in my backyard, I cant, its not a choice in my opinion, its just something I cant live with. And if action isnt taken, then the poor 911 dispatchers will hear all night long.
Hi BD-
-I was considering a portion of your comment:
"But because I can see in the not too distant future a society where the policeman is irrelevant. Because that's what society wants."
From what I've read the modern police force,at 200 years old,is a relatively recent modification within the institution of law in western society.
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