BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
August 3, 2006

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 7th at 7:00 pm at Chase Elementary School, 2021 N. Point.

Officers Present: PO Strazzante, PO Ortiz, SGT Giambrone, PO Trempe, and Liz Rios CAPS Community Organizer

Number of Beat 1431 residents present: 20

General Announcements

Citizen ICAM
From July 7th through August 2nd, according to the Citizen ICAM, Beat 1431 suffered 99 crimes, a decrease of 1 from last month (100):
  - 13 Person
  - 61 Property
  - 6 Society (Narcotics, liquor law violation)
  - 9 Domestic (person and property)
  - 10 undetermined

Child Curfews
Children under the age of 17 must be home or accompanied by a parent or guardian 18 years or older after 10:30pm on weekdays and no later than 11:30pm on Friday and Saturday nights. Children who violate curfew often become victims of crime.
Contact the Chicago Police Department, Preventive Programs at 312-745-5838 if you have any questions.

Auto Theft
There were several reports this month of car related theft. For example, SGT Giambrone mentioned that garage door openers are being stolen from parked cars and then being used to try to open garage doors nearby. Keep extra garage doors well hidden or out of your car if you are parked on the street. Also, it is recommended that you lock your bikes in your garage to make them more difficult to steal in the event your garage is compromised.
Due to the heat, many people are leaving windows cracked in their cars providing a means of entry for thieves. Please keep your car windows and doors locked when parked. Place purses and other valuables under the front seat or in the trunk, but never in plain view. Also, never carry more money than absolutely necessary.

Home Burglary Protection
Residents are encouraged to keep windows closed and locked while away. If windows must be left open consider buying window locks that prevent the window from being opened any further to allow for forced entry. Burglars also try to push in window unit air conditioners to gain entry. Please make sure that your A/C window unit is securly screwed into the window frame/sill to prevent it from being forcibly pushed in.

Graffiti and 311
Again, Graffiti continues to be a major problem in our beat as well as citywide. Residents again are strongly encouraged 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. After reporting an incident to the 311 call taker, ask for the Service Request Number (SRN) that is assigned to your request in case your request goes unanswered for several days. You can call 311 again and ask for a status update on your SRN (you can also share this SRN with friends and have them inquire as well).


Beat 1431 Section Reports
SECTION 1 (Borders: California, Milwaukee, Armitage)
1) A new pole will be installed to support the police camera at the intersection of Stave and Francis. The police camera will be at thsi location for 6 months and then it will be moved to another area yet to be determined.
2) Known drug dealer J.J. Morgan was seen driving around the section in a beige colored Buick. PO Trempe reported that this car was ticketed and towed and impounded recently.
3) Tony Crespo will soon be out on parole for a gun violation after being sentenced for 61 days in the penitentiary. He apparently resides on Bingham.
4) 2113 N. Bingham continues to have problems with gang loitering and drug dealing.
5) A resident reported that on July 27th several attempts were made to remove the wheels on their older Jeep Cherokee SUV.
6) The 1st Ward Alderman's office has notified the business owners of "Marianos" of the drug and gang activity on their property and that a community meeting with them is required. Cocaine, marijuana and heroin drug dealing and gang activity has been rampant surrounding this local vendor.
There were 5 drug related arrests at "Marianos" in June, 2 for cocaine, 3 for marijuana. The dealers/users are often seen wandering in the parking lot behind the vendor under the El tracks on Prindville.
The Alderman's Office will attempt to hold a community meeting with the business owners of "Marianos" in attempt to hold them more accountable for being a sanctuary for this criminal activity. If they do not cooperate they will be jeopardizing their restaurant license.
7) 2100 N. California resident, Barry Anderson, who works for the Chicago Bulls as their mascot Benny the Bull, was arrested at the Taste of Chicago for hitting a police officer while riding a mini-motorcycle. You can read more on this at the Chicago Sun Times: http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/benny03.html and for a more humorous perspective, you can read The Onion's account: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/50817.
8) A resident reported that a known drug offender has been seen back on the street behind ACE Hardware on Milwaukee Avenue and Tony Crespo's residence. PO Trempe was familiar with this individual.
9) A group of 3 - 4 young, black males were reportedly in Section 1 and neighboring Beat 1434 stealing various items from parked cars. They were seen checking door handles and stealing loose change and other items from unlocked cars. An arrest was made on one of the juveniles who had a cell phone that was reported stolen by a local resident. The juvenile apparently made a number of lewd crank calls to numerous contacts stored in the owner's phone.
10) Christoval Villareal was arrested on July 1st on Francis st. for selling heroine and cocaine. He is considered a "rogue offender" based upon his arrest history preventing him from receiving bond for any subsequent offense. He is not affiliated with a local gang, however, the Cobras and Latin Lovers allow him to sell his drugs in their areas.
11) A 13 year old boy was stopped near Chase Elementary School carrying a bag containing 3 marijuana plants.
12) There were a few employees from US Energy were reported in this section trying to solicit business from local residents by promising lower gas rates than Peoples Energy. The solicitors apparently are using deceptive practices and residents should call the 1st ward aldermans's office with any questions.
13) There were a few calls regarding parking permit violations involving a state/municipal vehicle and workers who setup cones in the street to perform building maintenance. First, police will not ticket a car with legitimate state/municipal government plates. Second, the building maintenance workers were also not ticketed for setting up cones in the permit parking street area as they were hired to do their job and that was the only area they could use to do their job. In both cases the police could not do anything about these situations and were taken out of service while having to perform these duties.
action: As stated last month, with the continuing problems at 2113 Bingham, if indeed subject to the city's Nuisance Ordinance, it should receive appropriate fines and attention from city officials. 911 calls are encouraged to maintain police presence in this section.

SECTION 2 (Borders: Rockwell, Lyndale, Western, Milwaukee)
1) The Congress Theater is scheduled to host at least 6 events during the month of August. Residents should report any violations to the police and notify the 1st Ward Alderman's office of parking violations at Chase Elementary School during these events.
- PO Trempe claimed the venue has new management after being recently purchased by Live Nation, Inc. Officer Trempe also expressed that the management up to this point has been very cooperative with the police when managing the crowds.
- During a recent wrestling event held at the theater, a drunken patron incensed at the outcome of the wrestling match, was arrested after getting into an altercation with a security guard. The police reported that the outcome of this altercation was: Security Officer 1, Drunken Patron 0.
2) A resident reported that she saw a van full of bicycles being unloaded by a couple men who appeard to be junkies in the Congress Pizza parking lot. There is concern that the restaurant is being used as a front for illegal bike sales.
PO Trempe also reported that Spanish Lords gang members have been seen loitering outside the restaurant trying to use the property as a main drug dealing location. On July 25th a Spanish Lord was arrested at the property.
3) One early evening around 5:30pm, a young black male was arrested after mugging a woman at 2420 W. Charleston. Apparently, the mugger approached the woman asking for sex, punched the woman in the face and ran off with her purse before he was arrested by police. The mugger is not a resident of our Beat and apparently comes from the 1700 block of Talman.
4) A shoplifter was arrested at CVS Pharmacy (formerly Osco Drug) for trying to steal numerous off-the-shelf cold medicines. He was found with numerous products stashed in his clothing after setting off the store theft detectors walking out the door. After trying to convince police he was just "testing" the store detectors, he was found to have outstanding offenses on his record and was sentenced with felony charges.
5) On July 12th, on the 2100 - 2200 block of Maplewood a long time resident named Francisco, was arrested after police conducting a search warrant found a drug scale, cocaine, marijuana and a large amount of cash.
action:Local residents are encouraged to keep a close eye on the Congress Theater during the events in August. Calls to 911 are required for any gang and drug activity in the area, especially at Congress Pizza.

SECTION 3 (Borders: Rockwell, Fullerton, Western, Lyndale)
1) A resident reported seeing 4 Spanish Lords in full colors walking through this section around midnight.
2) The owner of Danny's Liquors was in attendance and claimed there has been very little homeless and transient activity behind his store. When he sees any activty he calls the police, however, the homeless have been seen to disperse when they see him arrive at the store. The homeless tend to walk down the alley from Danny's Foods North to Fullerton and to the expressway. Many homeless have been seen behind an apartment building at 2417 Fullerton.
Residents were reminded that it is not against the law to be homeless, however, public drinking, drug use, urinating and/or defecating in the public way are offenses that warrant calls to 911.
3) A resident who lives on the 2200 block of Campbell reported that there have been numerous failed break-in attempts on their garage facing the alley. The police told the resident to report each break-in attempt.
action: Residents should call 911 to report gang activity or any violation currently happening.

SECTION 4 (Borders: California, Fullerton, Rockwell, Milwaukee)
1) Latin Lover gang activity at Goethe Elementary gradually diminished over the month of July. Police claim this decrease in activity resulted after they arrested LL gang member "Gizmo" for possession and delivery of narcotics. He was arrested within 1000 ft. of Goethe School increasing the severity of the crime. Gizmo was arrested in May with other gang members, was back loitering at Goethe Elementary in June, and has now been arrested again for drug offenses.
2) A 16 year old male was arrested with possession of Crack on Talman avenue, a resident of this section.
3) On July 21st a black male held up the KFC on Milwaukee and Washtenaw as the store was about to close. The male pulled a gun on the employees and forced them into the restaurant freezer. There is an emergency switch in the freezer that the employees used to call for help.
action: Consistent police attention are needed at Goethe Elementary School and the surrounding diagonal parking on Talman to discourage the Latin Lover gang activity. Also, residents are strongly urged to call 911 when they see the drug activity behind Marianos.

SECTION 5 (Borders: California, Logan Boulevard, Rockwell, Fullerton)
1) The gang activity at Haas has subsided since the gang shooting occurred, Saturday, July 1st. A welcomed contrast.
2) There was a decrease in the amount of graffiti in the area.
3) A recent block party on Fairfield encouraging resident participation at the park was well attended, police bike patrol officers were present as well as Liz Rios the CAPS organizer.
Three teenagers that looked like gang members started loitering in the area shortly after the bike police left but were told to leave by participating residents.
4) There was a robbery at a gas station at Fullerton and California, a man was filling his car with gas when another individual held him up for $300. The victim then went to the police station to report the mugging and while at the station police discovered that the victim had a warrant out for his arrest from the Customs agency. He was arrested.
action: The police maintain that no person over the age of 13 is allowed within the Haas Park kiddy play lot unless they have a child who is using the play equipment. Residents should call 911 if they see violators of this policy or any gang activity. Police to continue presence in area to address gang activity and vandalism.

SECTION 6 (Borders: Rockwell, Logan Boulevard, Western, Fullerton)
1) During the evening of Saturday, July 8th, graffiti went up on the garages of the following Artesian properties: 2521, 2523, 2527. The graffiti included freqently seen tags of "385", "che" and "depte". The 311 Service Request Number for the graffiti removal is 06-01212251.
2) Cheerios gang members Ricky Fischer, Ivan Burmudez and Mars Ferrar were seen circling the block of Artesian in cars frequently over the month.
3) Over the month of July, Ivan Morales has been seen selling drugs at 2451 N. Campbell. He has been seen selling drugs while holding his infant child in his arms in the past and residents are encouraged to call 911 if they see this activity.
4) Residents reported that they have seen some young individuals loitering near Campbell and Artesian that do not live in the neighborhood. 5 young males and 2 young females were seen loitering by a garage at the interstection of Campbell and Altgeld. Local residents were curious if these could be new gang members.
5) The new restaurant, "Caliente", at the corner of Rockwell and Fullerton will soon be opening and has applied for a restaurant license to sell food and liquor. They are not applying for a PPA (Public Place of Amusement) license. Residents expect Caliente to be a welcomed new restaurant in the area.
action: Residents should continue to call 911 to report gang activity and 311 for graffiti.


Recurring Problem Areas for BEAT 1431
1) Gang graffiti
2) Gang loitering and recruiting
3) Gang drug trafficking
4) Gang violence

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