Would Police Officers Walking The Sidewalks Of Armour Square, Bridgeport, Chinatown, McKinley Park & Canaryville Reduce Crime?
The primary concern of the residents in our community is crime. Chicago Police Department Beat 914 in the 11th Ward had the highest number of robberies in the city of Chicago for 2022, with a total of 176 reported. This equates to a robbery happening in this beat every other day. As recently as Saturday January 21, 2023 a carjacking occurred at 29th & Lowe.
Full Blitz Of Police Officers Walking Throughout Our Neighborhoods
Steve Demitro is proposing solutions to curb the rising levels of violent crime in our community. Steve wants to have police officers walk the neighborhoods (Weather and time permitting.)
The 9th District Police District currently has a shortage of 100 police officers compared to its staffing level two years ago. This shortage is due to, retirement and transfer of officers to other parts of the city. Violent crime has skyrocket in the last 12 months. Notably, there has been no opposition from elected officials to the removal of officers from the 11th or 12th Wards or for an increase in the number of officers.
Steve’s plan is to have all sworn police officers, including desk-based staff and instructors, walk their neighborhoods for one hour twice a week, when weather and time permit, until staffing levels return to normal. After that, he wants to establish a regular schedule of designated police officers walking neighborhood beats.
A high presence of officers would be visible in the 913/15 Bridgeport, 914 Chinatown, 925 Canaryville, and 912 McKinley Park beats.
In 2022, the neighborhoods of Armour Square, Bridgeport, Chinatown, and Canaryville experienced the highest crime rate increase in their recorded history.
Benefits of Police Officers Walking Our Neighborhood
Increase Visibility – A police officer walking a beat is more visible to the community than a patrol car driving through the neighborhood. This increased visibility can help deter crime and make people feel safer.
Improved relationships: Walking a beat allows police officers to interact with our community members in a more personal way, which can help build trust and improve relationships between the police and our neighborhood.
Improve Problem Solving: When a police officer is walking a beat, they have the opportunity to observe and identify potential problems in our neighborhood.
Revamp CAPS Program
Low attendance at CAPS meetings are a concern, and steps must be taken to understand the reason for this and take action to improve it. Steve wants to redesign the CAPS program, giving it a new focus and approach, with the goal of increasing attendance and community engagement. By closely monitoring the results and making adjustments as needed, the program can become more effective in reducing crime in the community.
Mentoring Program to help reduce crime.
Mentoring programs play a crucial role in the development on inner city youth. As a high school dropout – turned lawyer, I can attest to the significance and impact of mentorship in one’s personal and professional growth.
Steve Demitro
Map of 176 robberies that occurred in 2022 in the 11th Ward’s Beat 914 which includes Chinatown parts of Bridgeport and Amour Square. The most robberies in a precent for the entire City of Chicago.
