BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
March 2, 2006

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 6th at 7:00 pm at the 14th District Police Station, 2150 N. California.

Officers Present: There were neither police officers present nor any representation from community policing for the 14th district.

General Announcements
Apparently, the 14th District Commander, Salvador Avila, cancelled the 1431 beat meeting against the interests of participating residents and 1431 beat facilitator Jim Rhodes. The 14th District's community policing office notified attendees of last month's beat meeting that instead of having a meeting on March 2nd, there would be a sector wide meeting held on March 22nd. There is no clear understanding why the sector meeting would replace the monthly beat meeting which is dedicated to the interests of 1431 residents. Regardless, beat facilitator Jim Rhodes conducted the beat meeting at Chase Elementary School where numerous residents were in attendance without the cooperation of the 14th District police.
The next beat 1431 meeting will be April 6th at the 14th District police station where police attendance would seem to be more than likely.

The Chicago Police Department will be a holding the aforementioned CAPS Sector meeting for our beat 1431, as well as beats 1432, 1433 and 1434 at Holstein Park, March 22nd at 7pm. In addition to discussing criminal activity in these beats, the event promises to include the following:
- Learn about illegal gang activity on your beat and neighborhood
- Learn from tactical and gang officers about gang issues and conflicts in your sector
- Learn from burglary teams about safety and prevention
- Learn how to identify and call in crimes to 311 and 911

Jim Rhodes mentioned a particularly disturbing form of burglary reported in Humboldt Park where pit bulls were used to attack dogs being walked by their owners. The pit bulls were released to attack the victim's dog and while the owner attempted to fend off the pit bulls he was mugged by the criminals who released the pit bulls. Humboldt Park is outside of our beat, however, please be extremely vigilant when walking your dog in that area and call 911 if you happen to see this practice.

Beat 1431 suffered 25 property crimes last month, down 18 from the previous month, according to the Citizen ICAM from 2/1/2006 through 2/23/2006.

SECTION 1
1) Chase Elementary was vandalized with Cobra gang graffiti.
2) Gang graffiti section wide continues to be a problem, particularly on Milwaukee avenue businesses and Bingham street lights. Residents have reported that the graffiti is removed swiftly by the city, however, it keeps reappearing despite these efforts.
3) Criminal activity has remained dramatically low for the third consecutive month. This is positive news for this section.
action: Residents should call 311 for graffiti removal (you can report graffiti that is on someone else's property). Police are required for continued presence in area paying particular attention to Bingham and Stave streets.

SECTION 2
1) A new Congress Theater employee, Hugo Quiones, represented the venue announcing his responsibility for managing patrons and coordinating police efforts to keep the peace before and after concerts. He is available via his cellphone 773-366-2019 during performances for any resident complaints about patron activity.
Residents be aware that there are several big attractions this month including Dream Theater 3/18 and Prodigy 3/20.
action: Police and residents to monitor parking practices, littering and drinking before and after Congress events. Call 911 for any of these violations.

SECTION 3 & 4
1) 19 year old Section 3 resident, Brandon Vasquez, was shot to death at the corner of Fullerton and Rockwell, Thursday February 23rd at approximately 10:50pm. Click here to view the Chicago Sun Times article of the incident.
2) Latin Lovers gang members have been seen congregating at Goethe Elementary School at Belden and Talman avenues weekly on Fridays during the early evening (between 5 and 6pm)
3) Goethe Elementary School was also vandalized with Latin Lovers gang graffiti as well as pelted with eggs.
4) Goethe Elementary School diagonal parking on Talman between Belden and Medill continues to be used by Congress Theater patrons who often drink before and after shows littering and loitering loudly by their cars.
action: Police and residents to continue focused attention on gang activity in this area. Residents are strongly encouraged to call 911.


SECTION 5 & 6
1) A young woman's purse and scarf were found in a resident's backyard near Haas park, however, no identification was found as to the owner of the articles likely discarded after a mugging.
2) A young woman was dragged into an alley at gunpoint and raped at 8:30am February 1st near Aspira Inc. at 2435 N. Western. The young woman is a student of Aspira but decided to cut classes that morning.
3) There was a report that two women were robbed at 2400 N. Campbell at 12:40am in the morning on February 4th.
4) On February 8th at 4:20pm, known area Cheerios gang member and drug dealer, Ivan Bermudez was reportedly seen on Artesian handing off a substance to two young Hispanic males before all three began smoking pot on the sidewalk.
Ivan was seen driving off in a white van, the 2 young males were seen in a small white car with front and rear bumpers crushed on the right side.
5) On February 13th, graffiti was reported at the following locations:
- Garage at 2457 N. Rockwell with several layers of gang tagging
- 2456 N. Western, Cheerios gang tagging ("CHE")
- 2503 W. Fullerton, front and east sides of property
6) At 5:35pm, February 21st, a resident witnessed a drug deal occur on Artesian avenue next to Tile Outlet. A short Hispanic male in a red sweater was seen standing on the corner of Artesian and Fullerton. A gray Jeep SUV with Illinois license plate number: 900 8006 drove up and double parked opposite this individual. A taller Hispanic male exited the Jeep and exchanged something with the individual in the red sweater and then both left the scene. The individual in the red sweater was seen continuing west on Fullerton passing Campbell.
action: Police to address Cheerios gang activity. Graffiti and gang activity continues to be a blight in this section. Residents should continue to call 911.

Recurring Problem Areas for BEAT 1431
1) Graffiti
2) Gangs and drug activity
3) 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.