BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
April 6, 2006

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 4th at 7:00 pm at Goethe Elementary School, 2236 N. Rockwell.

Officers Present: SGT Rubio from Beat 1450, Liz Rios of Community Policing, SGT Ortiz, PO McNiff, PO Strazzante, PO Ortiz, PO Rios, PO Karwowski.

Number of Beat 1431 residents present: 12

General Announcements
Beat 1431 has a new Beat Sergeant, SGT Clark. Former Beat 1431 Sergeant, Sergeant Nieves, has transferred to the 14th District Gang and Tactical division. Sergeant Clark was not present for the meeting.

First Ward Alderman, Manny Flores, was also in attendance at the meeting. On several occasions during the meeting he voiced his concern on behalf of the residents on the numerous reports of gang related crime in our Beat. He also encouraged the police and residents to work together along with his office to try to decrease the amount of criminal activity in our area.

The CAPS Sector meeting, held on March 22nd, as mentioned in the minutes for last month, was intended to take the place of the monthly Beat 1431 CAPS meeting. It was reported that only two residents from two separate Beats in the four Beat sector attended this meeting. PO Rios from Community Policing apologized for the fact that there was no police officer representation for the Beat 1431 meeting last month claiming it was the result of a communication problem within the Community Policing office.

Residents asked if there was follow up information on two crimes from last month, the shooting death that occurred at Rockwell and Fullerton and the rape incident involving an Aspyrah student. Police had no additional information to report other than both were likely under investigation. Sergeant Ortiz said that Beat officers are rarely informed of past crimes once they begin further investigation. It was unclear if this statement from SGT Ortiz was simply his opinion or a 14th District sanctioned practice.

From March 13th through March 24th (full Citizen ICAM functionality was not working at the time of this report), Beat 1431 suffered 13 property crimes last month, an increase of 8 from last month during a period of less than 2 weeks. There were also 5 crimes committed against people (3 Battery charges with 1 Robbery and 1 Reckless conduct).

During the month of March, Beat 1431 was plagued with a dramatic increase in gang activity. The Latin Lovers were apparently "at war" with the Maniac Latin Disciples (MLDs) the second half of March resulting in at least one connected shooting incident (there were at least 5 shooting reports from residents this month alone). The current understanding of what triggered the war between the Latin Lovers and the MLDs is graffiti that was put up at Washtenaw and Altgeld. The graffiti was done by the MLDs in disrespect to at least 3 deceased Latin Lovers. The gang activity that followed lasted from March 16th - March 31st. PO Karwowski told residents that the 14th District has the most active gangs in the city of Chicago. Beat 1431, however, is considered the least problematic of all 14th District beats according to the police officers present.

Liz Rios from Community Policing mentioned that graffiti (gang or otherwise) has been a major problem citywide. She also encouraged residents to call Graffiti Blasters (dial 311) to report incidences of graffiti. Anyone can call and report graffiti at a particular location, you do not have to own or reside at the particular vandalized property to report the crime.

Liz Rios also mentioned that there is on open invitation to attend a traffic study for the 25th District being conducted April 22nd. Finally, there is also a Mother/Daughter Day event scheduled for Saturday, May 20th from 9am - 2pm at the Humboldt Park Field House promoting the following:
- Healthy relationships and teen dating violence
- Domestic violence in the immigrant community
- Elder abuse
- Abuse of animals
- Free facials and manicures will be offered from Mary Kay Cosmetics and there will be free products from Avon. Child care and lunch will be provided.
For more information call PO Laura Kramer at 312-744-1261.


SECTION 1
1) Drug dealing is rampant at 2113 Bingham both inside and outside the property. Groups of 6 - 8 young males have been seen in the front and back of the property and in the alley under the El dealing drugs. The drug activity continues both day and night.
2) Gang graffiti is constantly vandalizing the property at Stave and Francis. Once the graffiti has been removed it reappears within a day. Police are aware of this problem and officers have been calling it into Graffiti Blasters as frequently as they are aware of the vandalism (one officer has requested Graffiti Blaster services over 7 times in the last month).
3) During the evening of March 24th, there was a shooting between the Latin Lovers and MLDs on Mozart just West of California (just outside this section).
4) A resident reported that a young couple who purchased a property in this section last year have already left and sold their property. This couple was considered a positive new presence in the section and also attended a few CAPS meetings. The reason for their departure is believed to be the amount of crime in this section. They also were victimized for calling in a drug deal occurring behind their property. The day after they called in the crime, their car was vandalized (all 4 tires were slashed).
action: Gang and drug activity spiked during March. Alderman Flores underscored the importance of residents calling 911 for any gang, drug or graffiti crimes in the area. The criminals putting up the graffiti need to be arrested. The more calls, the more attention this area should receive. Police are required for continued presence in area paying particular attention to Bingham and Stave streets.

SECTION 2
1) Gun shots were reportedly fired at the intersection of Campbell and Milwaukee during the middle of the afternoon.
action: Residents are encouraged to call 911. Also, Police and residents should continue to monitor parking practices, littering and drinking before and after Congress events. Call 911 for any of these violations.

SECTION 3
1) At 4:15pm on Tuesday, March 28th, a resident observed an SUV purposely ram into a Chevy Malibu 3 times before fleeing the scene on the 2400 block of Medill. The SUV license plate was found on the scene as an artifact from the crime, however, it was apparently a stolen license plate and did not connect the criminals to the crime. This crime is considered gang related.
2) At 8:00pm on Friday, March 31st, gun shots were reportedly fired at the intersection of Lyndale and Maplewood at 8pm.
action: This section has also been plagued with gang activity. Residents are strongly encouraged to call 911.

SECTION 4
1) Thursday, March 16th, at 3:30pm two Goethe Elementary students (7-8th grade girls) were robbed at knife point on Talman avenue adjacent to the school. The crime was not considered gang related. PO Rios has been driving by the school during the time of dismissal and recommended that adults be present if students are allowed to linger in the school campus after school is dismissed. Beat facilitator, Jim Rhodes, who is also a LSC member mentioned that the school does not have enough in their budget to hire adult supervision to monitor the children in the school campus after school is dismissed. He also remarked that the school wants to allow their students to be able to enjoy the school campus.
2) During the early morning on Saturday, March 18th, Latin Lover graffiti vandalized the side of a house at the intersection of Belden and Talman avenues.
3) During the week of March 20th, groups of Latin Lover gang members were reported loitering daily from Lyndale and Talman to Belden and Talman and the diagonal parking off Talman at Goethe Elementary school in the early evening (between 7pm - 10:30pm).
action: Alderman Flores requested that the police pay more attention to the gang activity and graffiti in this section. Police are needed to be proactive and disperse these gangs as their loitering pattern becomes more and more obvious. Residents must continue to call 911 to bring more police attention to this problem.

SECTION 5
1) Extensive Latin Lover and MLD gang graffiti covered 3 locations at Washtenaw and Altgeld and further east.
2) On March 31st, 8 cars had their windshields smashed on the 2400 block of Fairfield at approximately 8pm.
3) A resident from the 2400 block of California reported 3 shootings that occurred during the month of March (2 of the 3 could not be confirmed):
- corner of Altgeld and Mozart (just outside Beat 1431)
- Haas Park near California and Fullerton
- California and Fullerton
The shooting at California and Fullerton occurred mid March (date was not confirmed) at 5:30pm. A white Honda traveling south on California hit a parked car and then opened fire (at least 5 shots total) toward a group at a gas station on Fullerton. An innocent bystander was in the path of the shooting and apparently was not injured. It was not reported whether the criminals were apprehended or not. Police however did respond to the incident and had descriptions of some of the vehicles involved.
4) Drug activity was reported around 2443 - 2445 N. California. The drug dealing apparently occurs at all hours of the day and witnessed in the alley behind these properties.
5) During the evening, Wednesday, April 5th, there was a loss of electrical power on the 2400 block of California during which a burglary was reported at one of the restaurants on this block.
action: This section suffered an increase in gang violence over the last month, residents are strongly urged to increase calls to 911 and demand more police attention.

SECTION 6
1) On March 26th, Spanish Lords gang graffiti vandalized Tile Outlet (Campbell and Maplewood) with layers of additional Cheerios and MLD tags.
2) Graffiti vandalized sections of properties along Altgeld.
3) The Cheerios gang continues to terrorize this section. Gang member, Ivan Bermudez, continues to cruise along this section in a white Durango SUV. Gang members have also been seen driving a white luxury sedan with expired temporary license plates. Residents should call 911 to report cars with temporary plates that are 90 days past their date of issuance.
4) Cheerios gang members have been seen drinking alcohol in front of properties on Artesian.
5) A resident reported that three street lights on Artesian, just west of Western avenue, are out and were requested to be turned back on.
action: The Cheerios gang activity needs to be addressed by law enforcement. This gang and their graffiti continues to be a blight in this section. Residents should continue to call 911.

Recurring Problem Areas for BEAT 1431
1) Gang violence
2) Gang graffiti
3) Gang drug trafficking

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