BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
April 1st, 2004

The next meeting will be May 6th, 2004 at Goethe School, 2236 N. Rockwell at 7:00 pm.

Officers Present: CMDR Avila, SGT Anderson of Community Policing (newly appointed SGT of Community Policing), SGT Giambrone, PO Doyle, PO Romero, PO Retamozo, PO Crawford, CAPS Community Organizer Liz Rios, and Miriam Alvarez of the School Safety Initiative, 1st Ward Alderman Flores.

SECTION 1
Very large attendance from this section due to the increasing, unacceptable levels of criminal activity in this area over the last month alone consisting of Gang loitering and shootings, drug activity, and verbal and physical assaults on residents. Although Police have been responsive to calls, the criminal activity has not been adequately deterred.
Click here for a complete log of activity for March 2004.
1) The 2000 block of Bingham continues to be a growing drug hotspot with 2 new drug houses reported at 2025 and 2027. In the last two months the following Bingham addresses have been cited for drug and criminal activity: 2025, 2027, 2058, 2062, 2101, 2105, 2108, 2133.
action: 1) Commander Avila of the 14th District promised increased attention to the area.
2) Police Roll Calls will be held Saturday, April 3rd and Wednesday, April 14th at 6:30pm in the middle of the 2000 block of Bingham (2062 Bingham).
3) Liz Rios, our CAPS Community Organizer, suggested positive loitering in the area, grill outs, and also offered arm bands and walkie talkies to residents to assist in deterring and reporting criminal activity.
4) May 1st there will be a Clean and Green clean up initiative in this area.

SECTION 2
1) Gang activity on Western.
2) A lot of tagging (predominantly Latin Lovers) has been occurring in this area, especially around Congress Theater.
3) No report was made on any discussions with the Congress Theater regarding the Ludacris concert last month.
action: SGT Giambrone to discuss resources for policing events at the Congress Theater with Commander Avila of the 14th District and possibly organize a meeting with the 1st Ward Alderman's office and community.

SECTION 3
1) Gang (Spanish Lords) and drug activity was reported at 2137 N . Western.
2) There has been heavy gang graffiti in the area.
3) There was no report on further information regarding the mugging that occurred Monday, 2/16 at mugging on Campbell near Medill.
action: The activity at 2137 N. Western needs to be controlled. Provide followup on 2/16 mugging.at next CAPS meeting.

SECTION 4
1) A female student at Goethe School was harassed by Cobra gang members which led to 10 rival Latin Lover gang members to be loitering around the school at 6pm in the school diagonal parking on Talman. Cobra and Latin Lover rivalry apparently is intensifying in this section.
2) Officers did not have any new information on August murder on Talman. Apparently, no witnesses are coming forward preventing any further progress.
action: Diagonal parking on Talman (from Lyndale to Medill) continues to be a preferred place for gang activity and loitering. Police to monitor gang activity in this area. Weekend evenings seem to draw increased activity.

SECTION 5
1) A short, Hispanic person carrying several bags was reported to be ringing doorbells at 3am.
action: Need followup on child luring incidences from last month.

SECTION 6
1) An Aspira school administrator was accompanied by a student to report on continued physical and verbal violence from Spanish Lords gang members. Parents are starting to organize to help control the violent activity at the school. Aspira has cancelled their outdoor recreation activities at Holstein Park due to gang threats. The Police have offered support to the school and will be meeting with Aspira school officials to establish a plan to resolve these recurring problems.
2) Commander Avila mentioned that calls of service were low for Holstein Park last month despite the reports that were made. (Calls to 911 to report criminal activity is the most effective way we can get more attention to problem areas.)
3) Artestian is seeing increased loitering and driving activity with cars circling the block possibly looking for drug sales. Cars seen include: white SUV #444 9429, Chevy wagon #563 9086.
4) Missala (corner "restaurant" at Fullerton and Rockwell) was reportedly open until 5am at least one day during the month. Apparently it has no chef and that it is illegally selling liquor without a license. It also reportedly does not have a garbage service and is storing garbage inside.
4) No progress has been reported on the Derek Tate, Jr., murder on June 6 at Fullerton and Artesian. Apparently, no witnesses are coming forward to allow further progress.
5) No progress has been reported on the September 9th shooting at 4pm on Fullerton and Artesian. Even though there was an eye witness and pictures of a gang member holding a gun, police say that no one can be convicted with that evidence.
action: Police and Aspira to meet to establish plan to resolve the recurring criminal activity at the school. Holstein Park needs to be more aggressive in dealing with the gang control it is under. Alderman's office and the police need to address the recurring violations of Missala at Fullerton and Rockwell.

Beat Watch Reports
Midnight
N/A
Days
1) J.J. (Jeffrey Morgan) and Ricky Vasquez were arrested for selling drugs out of J.J.'s car. His car was confiscated.
2) The 2025 N. California building which has been a sanctuary for homeless people, prostitutes and junkies apparently is no longer a problem and the owner has hired off-duty police to maintain security almost 24 hours. This is great news.

Recurring Problem Areas for BEAT 1431
1) The 2000 block of Bingham, continues to have serious, recurring criminal drug and gang activity.
2) Gang activity: all sections in BEAT 1431 are seeing very high levels of gang activity, especially heavy in sections 1, 3, and 6.
3) Aspirah gang violence to students
4) Graffiti

General Announcements
1) In addition to promising more police support in Section 1 (specifically Bingham and Stave), Commander Avila underscored the importance of vigilant residents and police working together to make our neighborhoods safer. Avila also mentioned that BEAT 1431 has one of the better CAPS meetings in the 14th district due mainly to resident participation.
2) Acid graffiti on glass: please contact 14th District Community Policing Officer Doyle if you have seen any acid graffiti on glass. The acid destroys the glass so severely it must be replaced and the police want more information on where it is occurring. Currently, bus and train stops are popular areas being vandalized by this form of graffiti.
3) Advice when calling 911
In general, the more detail the better.
a) Offer clear descriptions starting from head to toe
b) Describe the location of the offense
c) Where are the offenders going/what direction did they run? Did they hide any evidence (e.g. drugs)? If so, where?
4) Alderman Flores recognized PO Muniz of Community Policing for his diligent handling of gang threats to a neighborhood resident.
5) Alderman Flores also strongly requested that residents keep their garbage carts in garages or on private property to help deter drug activity (hiding drugs in garbage cans is not uncommon) and litter.

Court Dates
1) Carlos Machis, owner of Huckleberries, at 2514 W. Fullerton, was arrested for possession of guns and drugs in early 2003.
The next court date is scheduled for April 12th. Residents, please attend this court date if you can, call the 14th district station for more details!
2) April 19th at 5th District (Grand and Central) for Leno Quinn, hearing at 1:30pm. Please allow time to handle construction around the courthouse and consider car pooling due to lack of parking.


DISCLAIMER
Beat 1431 CAPs volunteers prepared these meeting minutes to the best of their ability.