BEAT 1431 CAPS
Meeting Minutes
May 1st, 2008

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at 7:00 pm at Goethe Elementary School, 2236 N. Rockwell.

Officers Present: PO Smith, PO Levine, PO Gonzales, PO Crawford, PO Williams, SGT Giambrone, Liz Rios (14th District CAPS organizer)

Number of Beat 1431 residents present: 16

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

General Announcements
SGT Giambrone expressed his thanks for being honored at the CAPS Appreciation Dinner held during the evening of Tuesday, April 29th. PO Trempe who suffered a heart attack last month was also present and honored at the dinner for his service.

Sgt Giambrone recognized PO Smith and PO Komo for arresting vandals tagging a property on the 2700 block of Prindiville. SGT Giambrone also recognized PO Levine for arresting a criminal for Attempted Robbery who also had possession of a knife on the 2700 block of West Armitage.

A resident mentioned the recent publicized deaths of 2 bicyclists in Logan Square and wondered if the police had any public service announcements planned. SGT Giambrone mentioned that the police bike patrol in the past has done positive traffic stops for cyclists to make them aware that it's against the law not to have a front bike headlight. Giambrone also strongly urged the use of a taillight.
Another resident reported that during the evening of Friday April 25th, he was headed South on Elston near Logan and ran into a Critical Mass bike ride that took over all lanes of traffic (involving what appeared to be hundreds of cyclists). Critical Mass occurs the last Friday of every month during the summer months, you can find more information at the Critical Mass website. The police try to get these riders safely and quickly through the district by putting a squad car at the front and in the rear of the group of riders.
SGT Griambrone mentioned that they did on one occasion have to arrest a Critical Mass rider after he tried to interfere with a CTA bus driver by tapping the bus windows and reaching in at the driver. The bus driver was able to grab the cyclist to help aide in the arrest. There are generally 300 - 500 riders that show up for these rides that are held, among other things, to bring awareness to cyclists.

SGT Giambrone highlighted particular crime stats for the month of April.
There were 3 unlawful entries which indicates that either a window or door were left open, inviting this type of crime to occur. SGT Giambrone mentioned it is extremely important, particularly during the coming warmer days, to not leave first floor windows or doors open when leaving a residence.

The total "Index" crimes were down 8 from the previous month, and the total "Non-index" crimes were down 7 from last month. Combined, there was a decrease of 21% in these crimes from the previous month. Also on a positive note, arrests were up by 11 compared to the previous month.

Finally, PO Williams announced that there are many new police personnel at the 14th District. Starting next week, police teams on bikes and 4-wheel ATVS will be patrolling our beat.


CLEARMap (formerly Citizen ICAM)
From April 1st - 27th (April 28 - 30th data was not available at the time of this report), according to CLEARMap, Beat 1431 suffered 58 crimes, a decrease of 14 from last month (72): NOTE: This data is incomplete - missing 3 days in April of crime data.
- 1 AGGRAVATED ASSAULT *
- 6 BURGLARY *
- 2 DRUG ABUSE VIOLATIONS
- 1 FORGERY AND COUNTERFEITING
- 1 FRAUD
- 18 LARCENY THEFT *
- 1 LIQUOR LAWS
- 4 MISCELLANEOUS NON-INDEX OFFENSES
- 4 MOTOR VEHICLE THEFT *
- 2 ROBBERY
- 6 SIMPLE ASSAULT
- 5 SIMPLE BATTERY
- 8 VANDALISM

* indicates index crimes (most serious offenses)

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

Beat 1431 Section Reports
SECTION 1 (Borders: California, Milwaukee, Armitage)
1) There was a Burglary arrest on April 14th, on the 2000 block of Stave.
2) There were 3 graffiti arrests on Prindville. One of the vandals is named Miguel Perez, and he is scheduled to be in court on May 27th at Grand and Central at 1:30pm.
3) There was a Disorderly Conduct arrest on April 3rd, on the 2400 block of Armitage.
4) There was a Deceptive Practice arrest on April 28th on 2300 block of California, the individual tried to cash a bad check for $150 or less.
5) 2108 Bingham, former residence of Lino Quinn, has been a problem with late night parties on Friday and Saturday nights. Former Cobra gang members are attending the parties and loitering in the street, flashing gang signs and disrupting traffic.
Well known criminals, J.J. Morgan, Ricky Vasquez are amongst the offenders.
Liquor bottles are also being dumped in the lot at 2110 Bingham.
This sort of activity was occurring last year and resulted in shots fired in the street.
6) 2124 Bingham has had suspicious activity reported involving 7-8 people during midnights during the week.
7) 2074 Stave has been a problem property with a number of young males loitering outside. This property sits next to new condos that are gradually being purchased. Police hope these new residents will attend CAPS meetings and call 911 for crime at 2074 Stave.
8) A resident expressed the need to keep the camera on Stave for another year to help control crime on the block. Jerry Gabrielatos from Alderman Flores' office announced that the camera on Stave is ready to be moved and will organize a formal community meeting to vote on whether it should be moved or not.
9) SGT Giambrone announced that they have increased patrols in this section.
10) The vacant lot at 2110 Bingham needs work done securing the surrounding fence and maintenance of overgrowth. This lot has been exploited by gangs littering liquor bottles and stashing drugs. The lot is currently for sale and the Alderman's office will follow up to get the current owner to clean up the property.
11) Parking around the coffee shop at Milwaukee and Prindiville has been a problem during street cleaning. The cars are not being moved during cleaning days causing a large accumulation of garbage that is being blown onto properties. The Alderman's office will attempt to furnish better signs to indicate street cleaning days and the police will attempt to ticket cars if they're not being moved.
12) Sunday, April 20th at 2:45am a resident called 911 to report activity involving a van and a sedan outside 2133 N. Bingham. There were several people making noise, and one person held a gun to the head of another. No shots were fired, however, the sedan with the gun got away from the police when they arrived at the scene.
action: Residents should continue to call 911 for any emergency or crime in this section. They are also encouraged to call 311 for graffiti.

SECTION 2 (Borders: Rockwell, Lyndale, Western, Milwaukee)
1) Jerry Gabrielatos reported that the house at 2417 W. McLean, reported last month as being used by vagrants, has been secured.
2) There were 3 arrests for Obstruction of Traffic at 6:50pm on April 9th, on the 2400 block of McLean, that were most likely for selling drugs. At least 1 of the offenders was a Spanish Lords gang member.
action: Residents should continue to call 911 for any emergency or crime in this section including gang activity.

SECTION 3 (Borders: Rockwell, Fullerton, Western, Lyndale)
1) At the corner of Lyndale and Campbell, there was an attempted robbery and assault of a local resident reported at 1:30am.
2) SGT Giambrone reported an Aggravated Assault involving a handgun on the 2400 block of Fullerton on April 20th at 2:30am. The offenders both had black ski masks and fled the scene.
action: Residents should continue to call 911 for any emergency or crime in this section including gang activity.

SECTION 4 (Borders: California, Fullerton, Rockwell, Milwaukee)
1) The City Department of Water trailer parked on the 2300 block of Talman was aggressively tagged with gang graffiti Saturday, April 19th. Residents have called 311 to remove the graffiti but no action has been taken. The Alderman's office will take action to get the graffiti removed. The area is being fought over between the Latin Lovers, Maniac Latin Disciples and Spanish Lords.
2) There was a warrant arrest on the 2200 block of Talman April 17th as well as the 2500 block of Fullerton on April 20th.
action: Residents are strongly urged to call 911 to report gang activity and 311 for graffiti

SECTION 5 (Borders: California, Logan Boulevard, Rockwell, Fullerton)
1) The former Bolzano's restaurant property was discussed again and the rumors about it being a Latin fusion restaurant are being questioned. There were new rumors that it might be another "dominoe's club" similar to the one at California and Fullerton. Apparently, there have been late night parties at this property during the week, lights have been seen in the property at night as well as cars in the parking lot. The midnight officer will check into the location as well as the Alderman's office. This could involve illegal residency and any number of liquor law violations.
2) On April 5th, 2 minors were arrested on the 2700 block of Fullerton for drinking.
3) On April 26th, there was a domestic battery arrest at Logan and California.
4) The police reported that Haas Park has not had any notable crime incidents over the last month.

SECTION 6 (Borders: Rockwell, Logan Boulevard, Western, Fullerton)
1) Antonio Phillips and Alexis Medina, charged in the Derek Tate Jr. murder outside Tile Outlet in 2003 were indicted in court April 23rd. They are going back to court on May 9th for arraignment.
2) There was gang graffiti reported at Maplewood and Altgeld. The building owners quickly removed the tagging.
3) SGT Giambrone reported that the MLDs in this section are becoming more aggressive, reaching out to neighboring MLDs outside our district to fight with the Latin Kings, North near Belmont.
4) The massage parlor that was closed by the Police last month for a drug arrest was located at 2608 Fullerton. This parlor has no relation to the new "AOL Massage" storefront that is located nearby between Rockwell and Maplewood.
5) There was a prostitution arrest on April 16th on the 2400 block of Artesian.
6) There was an Aggravated DUI arrest on April 13th on the 2800 block of Fullerton.
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.