Public Safety Action Steps

A quick follow-up to the recent meeting recap post.  Katharine put together a nice document that provides a step-by-step actions for dealing with public safety problems in the neighborhood.

GWNA was only able to pass out a handful of these at the meeting, so here is the document for posterity.

Please download the PDF and let us know if you have any questions or anything to add in the comments below.

Thanks!

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CAPS/GWNA Meeting Recap

We had a great meeting on Monday evening and a very impressive turnout (estimates of up to 70 people) considering a Bears/Packers MNF thriller-in-progress.

The meeting was sponsored by CAPS and had reps from Graceland Wilson Neighbors Association, Beacon Block Club and Dover Street Neighbors Association in attendance.  We primarily focused on public safety issues with some excellent information provided by a 911 dispatcher, the VP of the CHA scattered site housing (Jadine Chou) and a representative from our local court advocate team (Richard Thale).

A representative from the state’s attorney’s office (Gina Say) and our CPD commander (Kathy Boehmer) were also in attendance and were able to provide some great information as well.  Also, a very big thanks also to Irma Perres from CAPS for coordinating this meeting.

So, let’s recap of the main bits:

911 Calls: Behind the Scenes

A member of the CPD who works in the 911 center provided an excellent presentation of how 911 works, what happens behind the scenes and other useful information.  Here’s a list of the highlights:

• The city of Chicago receives 15,000 – 18,000 911 calls per day.  On a heavy day (say, a hot Saturday night in July), it could receive upwards of 35,000 calls in a day.
• The 911 center includes both the CPD and Fire/Ambulance teams and calls for the latter are immediately routed to the appropriate people.
• If you call from a landline, you’ll be asked to verify your address (phone records are not always up to date).  From a cell phone, you’ll need to provide a specific location as the dispatcher will only know your location within a block radius.
• Call 911 when the police can make an immediate difference (gun fire, loud neighbors, etc.); call 311 when they cannot (arrive to a broken car window in the morning, tree on the road, etc.)
• When giving your name to a 911 dispatcher, anonymity is held at a premium.  Names are not transmitted to police on the street.
• 911 process:  You call the 911 dispatcher and they take your information; it is routed in real-time to a police dispatcher (you do not need to hang up for this information to be transferred; it happens automatically); police dispatcher categorizes your call as Priority 1 (Happening Now, Weapons, Life Threatening), Priority 2 (Issue just occurred, but police presence not as crucial as a Priority 1), Priority 3 (Disturbances such as loud music complaints); Police are routed based on priority first, but not held back in the case of only Priority 3s being available.

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We’re back. Almost.

So, we decided to put the band back together.

Yes, we know, the band hasn’t played together in a couple years.  So that’s why, for instance, there’s a picture of a misty, autumnal bridge on the blog theme right now.  Let’s pretend it’s a picture we took at Graceland cemetery.

Anyway, more importantly:  Graceland Wilson Neighbors Association is back in business and, to celebrate, we’re going to have our first meeting!

So mark your calendars:

Monday, September 27, 2010
7:00PM to 8:30PM
Truman College
1124 W. Wilson

Join the 23rd District Police CAPS and Graceland-Wilson and Beacon Street Neighbors to learn about:

• Calling 9-1-1
• Being a Court Advocate
• Other Block Club issues

Also, if you haven’t joined us at Facebook, please do so by clicking here.  It is by far the best way to keep up with the latest news at this time.

Thanks; see you on the 27th!

P.S. Yes, we know that the Bears and Packers are playing that night at 7:30.  But, that’s what a DVR is for, right?

P.P.S. We’re still looking for folks who want to get involved with the block club and become block captains.  Please let us know if you’re interested.

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