Englewood Police District: Crime Drops, but Community Policing Falls Short of Expectations
Since August, The Chicago Reporter has been assessing preventive programs in the area. The package of reports is presented here, and was the subject of a January 24 community gathering sponsored by the Reporter at the Kelly Branch of the Chicago Public Library.
Table of Contents
A Brief History of EnglewoodBy: Chanel Polk and Mick Dumke1840: A settler named Wilcox claims land in a swampy prairie area seven miles south of what is now the Loop. Part of the area lies on a ridge that would become Vincennes Avenue.
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Englewood Survey
The following telephone survey of 304 residents in the Englewood Police District was conducted by graduate students at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
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Residents Say Police Botched Harris CaseBy: Jennifer MorrillEnglewood residents say their neighborhood is safe, though many have been victims of violent crimes. Community policing is working, but few attend local beat meetings. Police are doing a decent job, but they bungled the investigation into the murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris.
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Englewood Community Policing
In the Englewood Police District (7th), which includes Englewood and West Englewood, resident attendance at beat community meetings trailed the citywide average last year. Fewer than 17 residents attended the average meeting from March 1998 through March 1999. About 26 people attend each beat meeting citywide, according to Wesley G. Skogan of the Chicago Community Policing Evaluation Consortium.
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Chicago Crime
In 1998, the Englewood Police District (7th), which includes Englewood and West Englewood, recorded 56 murders, the city’s second highest total. It ranked sixth among the city’s 25 police districts in total number of index crimes, which are murder, criminal sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, theft, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson.
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Beat 733: Some Progress--and a Little FrustrationBy: Chanel PolkCrime is down in Beat 733. The 54-block area, which runs from 69th to 75th streets, and west from Racine Avenue to Halsted Street, recorded 427 crimes last year, down from a decade-high of 839 in 1995.
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Crime Drops, but Community Policing Falls Short of ExpectationsBy: Alden K. LouryOn a cool Wednesday afternoon in late October, Chicago Police Officers Frank Fuda and Len Jarvis pulled up to Unity Fellowship Church, 1818 W. 74th St. Fuda greeted the Rev. Walter Harris with a firm handshake and a friendly smile. "I try and stop by to see the reverend once a week," said the 13-year police veteran. Fuda has spent his career in the 7th Police District, which includes the South Side communities of Englewood and West Englewood.
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Mental Health Funding
Chicago's 16 mental health clinics operated in 1998 on a combined budget of $15.6 million. They receive funding from the state, the city and other government sources. The clinics, along with Chicago non-profit mental health agencies, have received about $682.8 million in state funding during the 1990s.
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Stopping the AngerBy: Alysia TateEvery day for about two years, 16-year-old Darius Harris hung out with friends around an abandoned building near Marquette Road and South Parnell Avenue, a few doors north of his home. One day last summer, he recalled, a truck pulled up and a relative of Ryan Harris handed out fliers with a photograph of the missing girl. Darius had never seen her.
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Watching Her BackBy: Alysia TateLast year, the young, brown-skinned man with the scar across his forehead asked for her phone number. Later, he tried to get her into his car.
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Haunting MemoriesBy: Alysia TateShe had lived in the second-floor apartment at 66th Street and South Parnell Avenue for almost six months, but Paulette Bonaparte still didn’t like sleeping in the bedroom. It was at the back of the house, overlooking the Metra tracks and a patch of land filled with overgrown weeds and trees. It resembled a small forest preserve, and Paulette had forbidden her three young children from playing there.
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Why Englewood?
The murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris in 1998 in the South Side neighborhood of Englewood became national news when two boys, ages 7 and 8, were arrested; the charges later were dropped. What led to this double tragedy, and what is being done to help Englewood's residents cope?
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