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.
• For people that do not speak English, the 911 dispatcher will immediately transfer the person to special language line that can help; language should never be a barrier for calling 911.
• Should it be required, the technology is such that a 911 caller can be routed directly to a police officer in a car on the street.
• Signing a complaint is the best (and sometimes only) way for police to take meaningful action.  For instance, if you call about a loud music disturbance, the police can only disperse the group.  If you are willing to sign a complaint, the police can arrest them.  You need to provide your name/address to sign a complaint and then follow the case to court — but many times this is the only way to receive justice.  A police officer cannot have his/her “peace” disturbed.

CHA Scattered Site Housing: An Inside Look

We were honored to have Jadine Chou, a SVP of the Chicago Housing Authority, join us and provide us with information on how the CHA works and what is being done to address public safety concerns.  Here are some highlights:

• Jadine is in charge of scattered site housing for the CHA.  The CHA has separate divisions for mixed income housing (like Wilson Yard, new Cabrini Green development) and larger standalone units (like the former Cabrini Green buildings).
• CHA is taking a proactive stance to increase security and protect the safety of residents. The goal is that the general public won’t know that a building is scattered site CHA housing, because of its natural fit with the neighborhood (good tenants, proper security, landscaping, etc.).  As part of that commitment, Jadine provided everyone with her email address and strongly urged anyone to contact her about issues with her buildings: jachou [at] thecha [dot] org.  She can personally handle anything related to scattered site and will forward anything on to her colleagues dealing with other types of CHA housing, as needed.
• 99% of CHA residents want what everyone else wants — a safe place to live and a vibrant community.  The focus is to remove the small percentage of bad apples that are unwanted by both the community as well as the residents themselves.
• There has been an increased recent effort in prevention, including:
  • Ensuring locked, secure fencing.  For example, some buildings have fences but the doors do not lock; this is being rectified.
  • Private security, as needed.  For some buildings this might be a security person in the evening and others it may be full time, depending on the situation.  CHA is currently using Kate’s Detective Agency as armed, private security for the GWNA locations.  These security guards are authorized to sign police complaints.  If people notice any issues with these security guards (letting things slide, becoming too fraternal with gangbangers, etc.), please email Jadine so she can intervene accordingly.
  • Surveillance cameras.  CHA was provided with a grant through the stimulus funds for state-of-the art cameras.  Cameras for Uptown scattered site locations will be going in with the following week, but all cameras will be up no later than February 2011.
  • To live in CHA housing, if you are between 18-65 years old (I believe that was the range), you must be employed (with exceptions for job training, temporary unemployment, and school.
  • Annual police reports are also required as a tenant.  Drug testing is not, however, they are currently working on a pilot program to see if this can be implemented in the future.
• Jadine ensured the group that she is committed to making a difference and to contact her with any issues/questions.

Court Advocacy: The Critical Follow-through

Richard Thale provide a quick presentation on court advocacy and how the community can be involved.  Some highlights:

• Court Advocacy is a program where community residents join with a victim of a crime to appear in court with them.  They are there to silently alert the judge, jury, attorneys and the criminal that the community cares about the case.  In what is typically an overloaded court system trying to process cases quickly, court advocates help slow down the process for cases important to Uptown.
• This is a key bit of the overall process.  When someone calls 911 and is willing to sign a complaint, the offender is arrested.  Then, the complainant needs to show up in court or the case will be dismissed.  Court advocates can step in and help complainants so they don’t feel alone in the process.  It shows the community cares.
• Each month, court advocates work together to identify important cases.  Multiple people will attend cases to show support.  With a recent homicide case, they were able to see the criminal get charged guilty on all accounts and sentenced to the maximum prison time.
• The group meets on the last Tuesday each month to go through the court schedule and plan.  If anyone has any interest, please contact Richard (or, contact GWNA and we can put you in touch with him directly).

Final Bits and Bobs

Overall, great meeting.  It was helpful to understand the 911 priority system and why we may not see police intervention immediately for some issues.  Jadine provided a lot of information that wasn’t widely known and seemed very willing to take a strong stance against crime, while still upholding the values of the CHA to provide lower income people with a place to live.  And, I personally like the idea of court advocates sitting in the courtroom silently influencing the decisions like local Vincenzo Pentangelis.  😉

As for GWNA, we’re still looking for folks that wish to be more involved, whether as a block captain or in leadership.  Please let us know. We are also interested in trying to do some gardening in Sunnyside Mall to help beautify the place, so give us a shout if you’ve got a green thumb. Finally, we may try to do a follow-up meeting with CAPS in a few months, so stay tuned.

Thanks!