BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
October 5, 2006

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd at 7:00 pm at Goethe Elementary School, 2236 N. Rockwell.

Officers Present: SGT Giambrone, PO Trempe, PO Macniff, PO Crawford, PO Lombard, PO Augustyn 14th District Community Policing and Liz Rios CAPS organizer for the 14th District.

Number of Beat 1431 residents present: 14

General Announcements

There has been a major increase in burglaries to the West of our Beat, residents are strongly urged to keep windows and doors securely locked when away from the premises. Also when walking in the neighborhood and using public transportation please be vigilant and mindful of your surroundings.

Parent and Youth Programs
1) The 14th District Police Station, 2150 N. California, will be hosting a Haunted House event October 27th - 31st from 5pm - 6pm. The station welcomes volunteers to help with this event, please contact Liz Rios at the 14th District Police Station.
2) There are 2 Internet Safety Forums left, Oct. 7th at the 10th Police District Community Room, 3315 W. Ogden at 11am, and Oct. 14th at the 25th District Community Room, 5555 W. Grand at 10am. This forum is designed to provide residents, parents, children and community leaders with the information related to Internet Safety.
3) There will be a 14th District youth Beat 1413 meeting Oct 17th at the Logan Square Girls and Boys Club, 3228 W. Palmer at 4pm. For more information please contact Liz Rios at the 14th District Police Station.

Citizen ICAM
From August 1st through August 31st, according to the Citizen ICAM, Beat 1431 suffered 91 crimes, an increase of 11 from last month (80):
- 24 Person
- 52 Property
- 2 Society (Narcotics, liquor law violation)
- 8 Domestic (person and property)
- 5 undetermined

Betty Major Rose: Narcotics Nuisance Abatement Program
Ms. Rose works within the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and represents the Nuisance Abatement Unit. The 1st Ward Alderman Flores' office suggested Ms. Rose attend the CAPS meeting to discuss properties that may qualify to be part of the Nuisance Abatement program.
This office investigates properties that have been filed by residents as problematic drug properties. When a property is reported to the Nuisance Abatement Unit, they contact the district that the property is in and attempt to verify if there have been any drug related arrests on the premises. If there have been arrests, the Unit contacts the owner of the property to address the problem.
The steps in this process are as follows: 1) The Nuisance Abatement Unit sends a letter to the property owner notifying them of the problem and to abate it 2) If there are subsequent arrests, the Unit meets personally with the owner of the property to discuss the problem and how they can make the property "drug free". 3) If arrests contine after this second meeting they take the property to court which can result in the property being quarantined and boarded up.
Ms. Rose also emphasized that the Nuisance Abatement Unit cannot address drug sales that occur on the streets surrounding a property. Her office only deals with drug activities and arrests that occur within a particular property.
Finally, Ms. Rose provided forms for residents and police officers to fill out, these can be obtained at the 14th District police station or by contacting the unit at 609 West Washington - 7th floor, Chicago, IL 60602.

Additionally, Ms. Rose can be reached at (773) 677-9947 for questions or if residents have specific properties that they want to check on. These conversations will be confidential.

Beat Facilitator Jim Rhodes asked Liz Rios to obrtain the list of problem buildings that have been reported in our Beat over the past several years and reporting on their current status for the next CAPS meeting.

Finally, Ms. Rose mentioned that an effective means to work with problematic properties is to have the district commander (the 14th District Commander is Salvador Avila) call and invite the owners of problem properties in the Beat to the police station along with concerned residents to establish a timetable to curtail the activity on their premises.

SGT Giambrone commends 14th District Officers
SGT Giambrone gave a letter of commendation to PO Park, an officer in the bicycle patrol, for being a key player in addressing the increased gang activity involving Chase Elementary School leading to several arrests during the last couple weeks of September.

Beat 1431 Section Reports
SECTION 1 (Borders: California, Milwaukee, Armitage)
1) There was an increase in bike patrol officers in response to 2 incidences within the last 30 days at Chase Elementary School:
a) The mother of David Nieves (David is reportedly a Spanish Lord gang member residing on Francis Place) was at the school to pick up family members when assumed local rival gang members began shouting verbal assaults at her. Police asked these 3 attackers to leave, and when they refused, they were placed in custody for failure to leave the school - a criminal trespass to state supported land. Three males were arrested (2 were juveniles). The non-juvenile offender in this arrest has a last name of Alvarado.
b) A juvenile delinquent who frequently associates with the MLDs (Maniac Latin Disciples) was seen displaying gang signs trying to insult any witnessing local gang members. Patrol officers placed him under arrest for criminal tresspassing.
2) During the Night of Sept. 26th, shots were fired in the alley behind 2738 W. Francis at the corner of Point and St. Helen. The four Latin King gang members implicated in the shooting have been arrested. One of these offenders, Simon Stoyas, drives a gray, Chevy Impala, and can also be identified by a Tatoo on his neck that reads "ACLK" (Armitage and California Latin Kings). He, along with his younger brothers (under 21) were arrested that evening for drinking alcohol since they could not be directly tied to the shooting. SGT Giambrone reported that a rival Cobra gang member shot at the Kings while they were in the alley drinking. The next day of the 27th there was another shooting at Francis and Point at 2:30am which should have been recorded by the Police camera, however, part of it's viewing angle remains blocked by a neighboring tree.
After these shootings, PO Trempe proactively visited the grandmother of one of the young males involved in the shooting, and because of her grandson's illegal activity PO Trempe would try to report her property to the Nuisance Abatement Unit. Her grandson has been a delinquent in the neighborhood for the last 4 years.
3) There has reportedly been no followup with the owners of Mariano's on Milwaukee for the reported drug activity that has been occurring on their premises. For the last several months a meeting was supposed to be organized with the owners, Alderman Flores' office and CAPS to address the drug activity on their property.
4) 2113 Bingham continues to be a haven for illegal drug and gang activity. This property was also involved in an auto theft. Spanish Lords gang members reportedly stole a car parked at this property, ran it into a pole and then returned it. This property is part of the Nuisance Abatement program and the police have spoken to the owners about this recent incident.
5) Attrill and Milwaukee have seen increased graffiti. 2042 N. Point was also vandalized with gang grafitti.
action: The tree obstructing the camera needs to be trimmed at the very least, otherwise, a better location for the camera should be considerd to allow it to have an unimpeded view of the area it's intended to monitor. Police to continue attention to Chase Elementary School. Property at 2113 Bingham needs 14th District attention as well as the State's attorneys office. Also, residents are strongly urged to call 911 when they see the drug activity behind Marianos providing very detailed descriptions of the offenders.

SECTION 2 (Borders: Rockwell, Lyndale, Western, Milwaukee)
1) Parking nuisances continue to plague Congress Theater events.
2) PO Trempe reported that there was an arrest made on an individual involved in auto thefts along Milwaukee and Talman during events.
3) Owner/operator of Danny's Liquors was present and did not report any major problems over the last month involving transients.

SECTION 3 (Borders: Rockwell, Fullerton, Western, Lyndale)
1) Mid America bank on Western sustained a robbery, arrests have not been made as of yet.
2) Graffiti has been reportedly down in this section.
action: Residents are urged to be wary of suspicious individuals on Western and to call 911 at any criminal activity.

SECTION 4 (Borders: California, Fullerton, Rockwell, Milwaukee)
1) PO Trempe reported that 4 - 5 members of the Latin Lovers gang have been consistently seen loitering at Goethe Elementary School at the end of the school day (3:15 - 3:30pm) trying to recruit. The Pricincipal of Goethe Elementary has spoken with PO Trempe about this recurring problem and is very anxious to remedy this situation.
2) There was a 14th district roll call on the premises during the month.
action: Gang activity at Goethe Elementary School needs to be addressed. Residents are urged to call 911 when witnessing any gang activity.

SECTION 5 (Borders: California, Logan Boulevard, Rockwell, Fullerton)
1) Armond Williams and Darius McDonald have been charged with the shooting death of Eddie Kurland during the early morning of August 25th, in the second level apartment building on the 2500 block of California.
As reported last month, these murderers invaded Kurland's apartment early in the morning resulting in a fatal shooting.
2) Latin Lover and MLD graffiti vandalized Glade Memorial Hall at 2640 W. Altgeld facing the alley. The 311 service number is 06-01900434 to remove the graffiti.
3) A resident reported that his garage was broken into by an alley transient on the 2500 block of California. The resident admitted to leaving his pedestrian garage door open, making this a crime of opportunity.
action: Residents should be wary of transients loitering in alleys and should keep gates and doors locked securely.

SECTION 6 (Borders: Rockwell, Logan Boulevard, Western, Fullerton)
1) Resident on Artesian with property facing Western reported consistent gang activity. Over the summer, this resident sustained a blow to the head by a bottle thrown by a young male who was asked to leave after urinating on his property. The resident suggested that a fence be placed around the vacant property behind the alley of Artesian to Western to combat the loitering (this area is currently proposed to be a dog park). This resident has had to deal with petty harrassment by local Cheerios gang members who have been a major blight to this neighborhood month after month.
2) Arrests were made in the alley behind Altgeld for cocaine sales and public drinking.
3) A resident at 2418 Artesian who is rumored to play a role in neighborhood drug activity had his car severely vandalized.
4) Three cars were broken into on Altgeld between Artesian and Maplewood, residents believe this vandalism occurred during the major rain storm.
5) There has been an increase in homeless activity across from Fullerton and Artesian, and in the vacant lot on Artesian and Western. A particularly disgusting vagrant named Daryl who has a scruffy beard and blonde curly hair may have a warrant out for his arrest due to past convicted drug activity. He may be sleeping on Western by the exit ramp from the highway.
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.