BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
January 3rd, 2008

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 7, 2008 at 7:00 pm at Goethe Elementary School, 2236 N. Rockwell.

Officers Present: SGT Giambrone, PO Deb Augustyn (14th District CAPS Office), PO Wozniak (Beat 1413), PO Doyle, FTO Karwowski, PO Ortiz (1st watch)

Number of Beat 1431 residents present: 12

Go directly to the following sections:
General Announcements
CLEARMap
Court Advocacy
Beat 1431 Section Reports

General Announcements
SGT Giambrone was pleased with the decrease in crime in our Beat over the last month. Burglaries and thefts were down across the Beat (thefts were down 50% compared to last month) and the worst crimes (Index) were down by just over 40%. The combination of the cold weather and good police work has helped to keep these crimes in check.

PO Deb Augustyn announced that the 311 city services are now accessible online! Whether you want to report a street light that is out or graffiti on a building, you can now do this online instead of having to call 311. You can access the 311 service section via this link. You can also navigate to this section from the City of Chicago homepage http://egov.cityofchicago.org/city/webportal/home.do and select the following links on each page: "Local Government -> City Departments -> 311 City Services -> Service Request Descriptions"

Beat Facilitator, Jim Rhodes, announced that another gas company has been in our Beat preying on unsuspecting home owners to try to sell expensive gas services.

The representative from Alderman Flores' office announced that the manager of the problem property at 2117 N. Point is working with the Alderman's office and his lawyers to remove the problem residents from this property.

The Stop Alcohol for Minors program was in our Beat (police sting operation to make sure businesses serving alcohol do not sell to minors) and all the following businesses passed by asking for identification:
- El Nuevo Naranjo at 2210 N. Milwaukee
- El Cid at 2115 N. Milwaukee
- Congress Theater at 2135 N. Milwaukee

CLEARMap (formerly Citizen ICAM)
From December 1st - 30th, according to CLEARMap, Beat 1431 suffered 67 crimes, a decrease of 39 from last month (106):
- 2 AGGRAVATED ASSAULT*
- 1 AGGRAVATED BATTERY *
- 9 BURGLARY *
- 3 DRUG ABUSE VIOLATIONS
- 1 FORGERY AND COUNTERFEITING
- 2 FRAUD
- 22 LARCENY THEFT *
- 1 MISCELLANEOUS NON-INDEX OFFENSES
- 3 MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT *
- 4 ROBBERY
- 2 SIMPLE ASSAULT
- 10 SIMPLE BATTERY
- 6 VANDALISM
- 1 FORGERY AND COUNTERFEITING

* indicates index crimes (most serious offenses)

Click here to view table of all reported crimes (new window)

Court Advocacy Volunteers Needed
PO Deb Augustyn is looking for volunteers who are available for a couple hours for one afternoon (usually starting at 1:30pm), one day a month to be Court Advocates. There are recent cases in other beats that need our help. Advocates in the neighborhoods in which the crimes were committed are afraid to appear in court fearing retribution from the criminals. Therefore, advocates are needed from other beats (including ours) to help make a strong court appearance against these criminals.

Court Advocacy Report
There was no report for this period.

Beat 1431 Section Reports
SECTION 1 (Borders: California, Milwaukee, Armitage)
1) At 12:15am December 28th, a car owned by a known Cobra gang member was firebombed on the 2100 block of Bingham. Police and firefighters arrived quickly after residents called 911. The Cobra resident is believed to be residing at 2108 Bingham which has been a problem property for gang loitering over the summer. According to SGT Giambrone, the police camera located near the scene of the crime on Bingham did not capture the event. The range of motion of the camera currently is not configured to include the area of the crime because during the summer months the viewing angle is obstructed by tree foliage. However, during our current winter months, tree foliage is not an issue and the camera could capture this area if adjusted accordingly.
2) Graffiti has plagued this section on Francis Place and Point, tagging was along the alleys as well on side of businesses including the Family Dollar store. The Cobras are believed to be responsible for the tagging and are using the letters "PF" in the tags indicating "Point and Francis".
3) Residents on Francis reported that their fence and garage were tagged with gang graffiti the second week of December.
4) SGT Giambrone reported that there were a couple arrests for graffiti that live in the section, court dates will be forthcoming for the Court Advocacy group.
5) Resident reported another problem with the Congress Theater event parking at Chase Elementary School involving cars driving on the sidewalk to get to the parking lot. Neither Chase Elementary or the Congress Theater have shown acceptable accountability or responsibility for the parking practices or behavior of the patrons using the Chase School parking lot that have plagued this section since the contract was in place for the last 2 years.
6) On December 28th, there were 2 arrests, one including a drug arrest for possession of Cocaine.
7) There were also several domestic battery arrests.
8) Police made arrests on 2 known thieves who frequent a property on the 2000 block of Stave that buys their stolen items.
9) There were additional burglary arrests on Milwaukee.
10) There was an aggravated assault at Chase Elementary. A female teenage passenger in the rear of a red, 2 door sedan with tinted windows pointed a gun at a young girl while they were trying to drive through Point after the young girl told the driver of the red car they could not pass while the school was letting out. Police are looking for this vehicle.
action: Residents should continue to call 911 for any emergency or crime in this section.

SECTION 2 (Borders: Rockwell, Lyndale, Western, Milwaukee)
1) A representative from Alderman Flores' office reported that the parking contract between the Congress Theater and Chase Elementary School will likely be terminated within a month. A representative named Max from the Congress Theater was in attendance and attempted to explain the parking challenges in the area and how difficult it has been to monitor the parking and patron behavior.
It should also be mentioned that this was the first time a Congress Theater representative has attended a CAPS meeting for several months, despite being asked to attend and being the subject of monthly resident complaints.
In November there were 2 arrests at the Congress, 1 for battery and the other for reckless conduct.

For further information on this parking issue and to contribute alternative parking suggestions please contact the Alderman's office at 773-278-0101.

SECTION 3 (Borders: Rockwell, Fullerton, Western, Lyndale)
1) There were no reports for this section.

SECTION 4 (Borders: California, Fullerton, Rockwell, Milwaukee)
1) The police arrested a male driving on the 2600 block of Fullerton and recovered a loaded semi-automatic .380 caliber gun as well as Cannabis.
action: Police need to focus on keeping Goethe safe from gang violence. Residents are urged to call 911 when witnessing any gang activity in the area.

SECTION 5 (Borders: California, Logan Boulevard, Rockwell, Fullerton)
1) There was a robbery arrest on the 2500 block of California December 19th.
2) There was a "home invasion" arrest at a property just south of the Starbucks at California and Logan. Police were able to arrest the criminal when he attempted to flee the rear of the building after trying to steal the victim's laptop computer. The police recovered $100 also stolen from the victim.
action: Residents are strongly urged to call 911 to report gang activity and 311 for graffiti

SECTION 6 (Borders: Rockwell, Logan Boulevard, Western, Fullerton)
1) The former Bolzano's Pizzeria building at 2614 W. Fullerton was broken into via a side window that needs to be boarded up. Homeless people have also been seen sleeping on the premises. Last month copper piping was stolen from the building.
2) A resident reported that there is a male recently released from prison who is residing on the 2400 block of Rockwell and is believed to be selling drugs on the block.
action: Residents are strongly urged to call 911 to report gang activity and 311 for graffiti

Recurring Problem Areas for BEAT 1431
1) Gang activity, drug sales, vandalism and violence on Bingham, Stave and Francis Pl.
2) Gang graffiti
3) Gang loitering and recruiting
4) Gang weapons violence

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