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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?
The murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris in July 1998 became national news when two boys, ages 7 and 8, were charged with first-degree murder; the charges later were dropped. It also focused attention on the troubled South Side neighborhood of Englewood.
In 1998, the Englewood Police District, which includes Englewood and West Englewood, recorded 56 murders, the city's second highest total. Combined, the communities are about 99 percent black, and in 1990, about 36 percent of their residents lived below the federal poverty line.
Earlier this year, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced a $256 million package of improvements, including a new Kennedy-King College, housing, parks and job training. In November, President Bill Clinton came to the neighborhood to push his New Markets initiative.
But there are some problems that economic development alone can't fix. Englewood needs help repairing its human infrastructure, and the city is coming up short in two critical areas: mental health services and community policing.
Mental health experts say crisis intervention and counseling services are sorely needed in Englewood. And the Englewood Police District isn't meeting the official goals for community policing laid out by the Chicago Police Department.
Since August, The Chicago Reporter has been assessing preventive programs in the area. Its work was bolstered by 19 graduate students from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, who surveyed 304 Englewood District residents for their views on crime and police, and profiled some of the people they met.
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, 6151 S. Normal Blvd.
This project was supported in part by a grant from the Pew Center for Civic Journalism and by The Fund for Investigative Journalism.
In 1998, the Englewood Police District, which includes Englewood and West Englewood, recorded 56 murders, the city's second highest total. Combined, the communities are about 99 percent black, and in 1990, about 36 percent of their residents lived below the federal poverty line.
Earlier this year, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced a $256 million package of improvements, including a new Kennedy-King College, housing, parks and job training. In November, President Bill Clinton came to the neighborhood to push his New Markets initiative.
But there are some problems that economic development alone can't fix. Englewood needs help repairing its human infrastructure, and the city is coming up short in two critical areas: mental health services and community policing.
Mental health experts say crisis intervention and counseling services are sorely needed in Englewood. And the Englewood Police District isn't meeting the official goals for community policing laid out by the Chicago Police Department.
Since August, The Chicago Reporter has been assessing preventive programs in the area. Its work was bolstered by 19 graduate students from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, who surveyed 304 Englewood District residents for their views on crime and police, and profiled some of the people they met.
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, 6151 S. Normal Blvd.
This project was supported in part by a grant from the Pew Center for Civic Journalism and by The Fund for Investigative Journalism.