Dear neighbor,
As many of you know, over the past several days, our community has experienced three incidents of gun violence on or near major thoroughfares in the Northcenter and West Lakeview communities. Most recently, early this morning, police quickly responded to a shots fired call near the 4400 block of Lincoln Ave. They found a young man in a crashed car with a gunshot wound. The man fled on foot when approached by officers, and was later apprehended and transported to Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital in critical condition. Officers subsequently found a gun they believe the man tossed into a nearby yard, and the man is not currently cooperating with the investigation. If you have additional information, especially video footage, please contact Area 3 detectives at (312) 744-8261.
Our office has been regularly communicating with our local police district and area detectives about these incidents. You can read our detailed public safety updates here, which we shared following each incident:
Incident on Sunday, October 3 at approximately 3 am
Incident on Monday, October 4, at approximately 11 pm
Incident on Wednesday, October 6, at approximately 2 am
On Tuesday, October 12th at 6:30 PM, my office and the 19th Police District will host a special CAPS meeting to provide information about public safety in our area, and answer neighbors’ questions. We have invited other public safety stakeholders to participate and will share updates when those stakeholders are confirmed. You can RSVP for this virtual event at bit.ly/publicsafety47. Please note that this event was previously scheduled for Thursday, October 14th, but in light of this most recent incident, our office requested a sooner date and are grateful the 19th District was able to accommodate.
On a personal note, I recognize just how unsettling it is that, over the last several days, our community has endured repeated incidents of gun violence. Like many of you, I have young children and want to ensure that they are safe and comfortable wherever they go, both within and outside of our neighborhood. I know that moments like this cause fear and create a justified sense of urgency to see these problems solved immediately. We all want to move swiftly to help ensure this type of violence stops immediately.
Yesterday evening, the 19th District began ramping up traffic missions throughout Northcenter and Lakeview, and will continue communicating with the 17th Police District and other nearby districts to share information and coordinate actions in response to these shootings. Special attention will be given to identifying cars that have been reported as stolen, in part using mobile license plate readers. And because there is currently no indication that the individuals involved in this gun violence have close ties to our immediate community, we will enhance our engagement with nearby law enforcement and community entities that are responding to similar issues. In addition,
I have been and will continue to visit schools and businesses and to knock on doors throughout Northcenter to answer your questions and discuss public safety concerns directly.
I also know that, too often, when confronted with community violence, elected officials defer blame and promise quick and easy solutions. While we will continue taking steps to immediately address these incidents, it is important to acknowledge, directly and honestly, that there are no simple fixes to the violence that communities all across Chicago face. We all must engage in the year-round hard work of strengthening our communities, both here in our own neighborhoods as well as across Chicago, with the goal of preventing violence in a systematic way.
This is an issue that I and my office have been working on since our first day in office. In 2019, one of the first pieces of legislation I introduced called for hearings on two data-driven violence prevention initiatives—CRED and READI. Both have promising initial results—in recent years, for example, READI’s work cut the number of arrests for shooting and homicide among participants by 79% compared with a non-participant peer group. I strongly believe the city should provide funding to scale programs that have demonstrated proof of concept like these.
This year, we’ve been working to prioritize implementing the Mayor’s violence reduction plan which spotlighted domestic violence as a top issue—in part due to its close relation to gun violence. Late last year, the Mayor released a comprehensive violence reduction plan that spotlighted the need to address domestic violence, based on its close link to gun violence. This year, our office worked with advocates to ensure that the FY 2022 budget provides appropriate resources to address the spike in domestic violence, including domestic violence related homicides. We’re proud to say the initial budget proposal includes $25 million dollars in new investments in this regard.
Finally, we have heard from neighbors who want to know how they can help right now to build a safer neighborhood and city. I want to provide a few suggestions:
Ask your local school how you can get involved in attendance initiatives. From our conversations with violence prevention organizations across the city in the last few months, we understand this uptick in gun violence is driven in large part by younger Chicagoans. Since the start of the pandemic, attendance numbers have dropped in CPS schools, and Chicago Public Schools continues to work to re-engage these students.
Consider donating to a local violence prevention organization like READI Chicago, Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), Alliance of Local Social Service Organizations (ALSO). ALSO specifically does work in the nearby Irving Park and Albany Park neighborhoods.
Attend an upcoming strategic meeting for your local police district. These meetings, which occur annually, are scheduled for later in October. Our police districts are seeking community feedback on their strategic plan, including regarding community policing. You can register for the upcoming 19th District meeting here.
Yours in service,
Ald. Matt Martin |
