BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
November 3, 2005

The next meeting is scheduled for December 1, 2005, 7:00 pm at the 14th District Police Station, 2150 N. California.

Officers Present: PO Crawford, PO Trempe, PO Macniff and PO Rios of Community Policing

General Announcements
Burglaries and property theft is on the increase as we approach the holiday season. Our Beat 1431 suffered approximately 40 property crimes over the month of October according to the Citizen ICAM. Included in this category were 4 burglaries. On a positive note, the criminals involved in these burglaries in 1431 have been arrested. Our neighboring Bucktown and Wicker Park Beats 1432 and 1433 have seen a spike in property crimes over the last month and it is expected to remain a problem through the remainder of the year. Please be mindful of locking gates, closing window blinds and not leaving items of value in plain site to deter potential thefts.

SECTION 1 & 2
1) The drug and gang activity on Bingham has lessened over the past month but continues to exist.
2) Hand-to-hand drug deals have been witnessed on the sidewalk in front of 2062 Bingham during the early evening hours.
3) Stave is seeing an increase in activity as a result of heavy police attention on Bingham.
4) The property owner of known problem property 2113 Bingham is under increasing pressure by city inspectors.
5) Drug dealing has been seen on St. Helen St.
6) A representative from the Congress Theater reported heavy littering at Chase School after a recent heavy metal concert (Slipknot?). The Congress apoligized for the problem, underestimating the potential nefarious activity of these particular concertgoers. The Congress has been paying Chase Elementary for use of their school parking lot for concerts.
action: Bingham and Stave streets remain a consistent area of reported criminal activity and require continued police attention and calls to 911.

SECTION 3
1) A representative from Danny's Liquors reported that they have been dispersing the homeless from the premises in response to problems over the last month.
2) Gang graffiti was reported in this section.
action: Danny's Liquors to continue to disperse homeless congregating around premises.

SECTION 4 & 5
1) Latin Lovers gang congregated at Dickens and Mozart this past month and vandalized property with graffiti.
2) 2700 block of Belden and Medill have seen Latin Lover activity. A Latin Lover is known to reside at 2710 Medill.
3) Police reported that Haas Park did not have the gang activity it suffered last month.
action: Police and residents to continue focused attention on gang activity in this area. Residents are strongly encouraged to call 911.

SECTION 6
1) Homeless vagrant Darrel Chambers has returned to living on the South side of the Kennedy Expressway. Chambers was arrested last month for possession of Crack Cocaine, however, he has recently returned to this area. IDOT is refusing to be responsible for this criminal and police have been notified of his reappearance. Chambers has blonde curly hair and is often seen panhandling on Fullerton and engaging in criminal drug and prostitution activity in and around the Kennnedy Expressway viaducts at both Western and at Fullerton. Residents are encouraged to continue to call 911 and IDOT, Illinois Dept of Transportation, at 847-705-4610 to report this vagrant.
2) Cheerios gang members Ricky Fisher, Ivan Bermudez and Marcelino Ferrar continue to loiter in this area.
3) Police made an arrest the evening of October 10th resulting from 911 calls on a congregation of people apparently smoking marijuana near Artesian and Western.
4) 2300 block of Altgeld has been tagged with graffiti resembling "MOM" and amusingly "Almighty Monster". PO Trempe feels he may know the individual responsible for this vandalism and will follow up with him.
5) There has been a noticeable decrease in gang activity at Aspira Inc of Illinois (2435 N. Western Avenue) since the arrest of numerous Spanish Lord gang members in August.
action: Darrel Chambers and Cheerios gang continues to be a blight in this section. Residents should call 911 to report this activity.

Recurring Problem Areas for BEAT 1431
1) Section 1 gangs and drug activity remains a serious monthly problem and needs more proactive action by law enforcement.
2) Residents should continue to call 911 and are encouraged to establish phone trees to increase the number of 911 calls.

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