Immediate Gun-Crime Alerts Sought By Beverly Residents

CHICAGO, IL - A standing room only crowd packed the basement at St. Barnabas Church Wednesday night to address a wave of armed robberies that have hit the neighborhood in recent days. Residents of Beverly asked public officials and police officers who were present at the community meeting to be more immediate when alerting the neighborhood, specifically when it comes to gun crimes.

"We live in a community where gun crimes are rare, so is there any way that if there's a gun crime - a single gun crime - that we could be notified immediately?" Beverly resident Benjamin Cox, one of more than 100 who were on hand at the church basement, asked.

Police officials explained that there's a process when it comes to sending out community alerts, and that typically in the city of Chicago and the 22nd Police District an alert about an armed robbery is only sent out when there is a "pattern."

"As soon as we get the information we get it entered into the system, but even with social media we can't do it as soon as it happens," 22nd Police District Commander Mark Harmon said. "There's a process."

Cox, and others, were referring to a recent community alert about a string of armed robberies and that one was from an incident that occurred nearly a month ago.

"Why did it take that long for us to find out about a gun crime in our neighborhood?" he asked.

19th Ward Ald. Matt O'Shea, who has an e-mail list of about 14,000 residents of the ward, said "we're going to find a way" in response.

"When it comes to these types of incidents, gun crimes, we're going to need to work and get that information out more quickly," he said, noting that as soon as his e-mails are sent out that much of the community is notified through social media and other channels.

Wednesday night's community meeting was called by O'Shea, the Beverly Area Planning Association and other local organizations in response to a number of calls from residents who were concerned about armed robbery reports this week in the 9900 block of South Damen, 10900 block of South Church and 2100 block of West 98th Street. An Oct. 12 incident in the 9500 block of South Damen was also determined to be similar to the ones reported earlier this week.

In these cases, two African-American men between 14 and 18 years old got out of a car and approached a lone victim. They were armed with hand guns while demanding cell phones and purses from the victims.

READ MORE: Armed Robbers Target Lone Victims In Beverly And Morgan Park

The meeting was attended by a number of residents who described themselves as "nosy neighbors." A number of them offered suggestions as to how the community can take a pro-active approach in combating these crimes.

"If you just get to know the people on your block... you are going to solve a lot of crime," one man said.

Others suggested more neighbors install security cameras, while one said that if more people were outdoors participating in healthy activities like running or walking criminals would be deterred.

Michelle Brett Page, president of the Beverly-Ridge Homeowners Association, shared a unique idea residents in her sect of Beverly are about to begin implementing. It's called a "Block Buddies" program that she hopes can do wonders when it comes to alerting everyone of a potential concern right away.

She says her group is identifying certain "block captains," who will be informed immediately about situations like the recent armed robberies and will then in turn notify everyone on their block. The BRHA covers everywhere from Western Avenue to the Metra tracks between 95th and 103rd streets, Brett Page said.

"We are really excited about this program," she said.

Suggestions offered by officials organizing the meeting included residents forming block clubs, attending City Hall and local CAPS meetings as well as the possible establishment of a community watch program.

BAPA Executive Director Margot Holland followed up on the possibility of 22nd District residents being informed immediately on gun-related incidents if a request of that nature is made.

"Yes," Harmon responded. "Logistically, we just need to figure it out."

"This is our neighborhood," O'Shea added. "And we need to start questioning what is going on. If something doesn't feel right, pick up the phone and call 911."

Photo by Tim Moran / Patch