Starting February 4th, Chicago police changed their responses to 911 calls. They’ll no longer come right away to reports of incidents where the suspect is no longer on the scene and the victim isn’t in “immediate danger”. These incidents include criminal damage to property, vehicle thefts and garage burglaries. They state the move will...
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Safety and Security
Neighborhood Safety and Securuty Committee
CHICAGO POLICE CHANGING RESPONSE PLAN FOR SOME 911 CALLS
Mayor’s Office and Police Department Want to Meet With You on December 11, 2012
ATTENTION: RESIDENTS OF THE AREA CENTRAL TO AUSTIN MADISON TO LAKE You Have the Power to Help Take Back Your Neighborhood The Chicago Police Department recently concluded a narcotics enforcement operation targeting violent street gangs in the area of West End to Madison, Central to Austin in the 15th District. In...
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Our Sense of Safety was Shattered Once Again on March 18, 2012
Late March 17th the usual criminal behavior at the corner of Madison and Mason was heating up around 10:00 PM. I made what has become an evening ritual of dialing 911. The drug sales, drinking and drug use had picked up like clock work .. some sick version of the dooms day clock. I...
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SIGNS AND DOLLAR SIGNS: Can signs help a community
Littered across the landscape of the 29th ward, you can see large 4 ft. by 4 ft. signs urging you to take action, to make a choice on one day of the year. The sign is asking you to vote for the alderman. The concept is that this choice will lead to a better quality of...
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CANA joins ACLU in lawsuit against the City of Chicago related to Inequitable Service in Minority Communities
Chicago Police Deployment Scheme Results in Inequitable, Unfair Service For Minority Neighborhoods, Suit Says CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Chicago officials have failed to deploy police equitably across the City’s many diverse neighborhoods, resulting in disproportionate numbers of delayed police responses to those neighborhoods with higher minority populations, according to the American Civil...
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Street Sign Strategy:Limit activity
The problems at the corner of Madison and Mason, resulted in a running gun battle in the streets in the early hours of June 25th. According to neighbors, the nightly fighting, drug and alcohol use and drug sales at this corner resulted in individuals chasing others up Mason, firing shots, turning left on Washington and...
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The nightly partying, conflict and noise at the corner of Mason and Madison was Broken by the sound of gunfire at 2:19 AM on June 25
The problems at the corner of Madison and Mason, less than two blocks from the 15th District Police Station in Austin, resulted in a running gun battle in the streets of our 16 blocks in the early hours of June 25th. According to neighbors, the nightly fighting, drug and alcohol use and drug sales at this corner resulted...
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Community Prayer Walk Every Saturday from 9:00 – 10:00 AM starting at Mason & Fulton
Please join the neighborhood each Saturday from 9:00 – 10:00 AM for a Community Prayer Walk. The walk will start at the corner of Mason Ave and Fulton Ave and go to Central and Fulton and back. Prayer can change us and our community For Further Information Call Intercessory Prayer Warriors: Evangelist Doretha Stafford...
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Annual Non Violence March to Commmemorate Robert Woods held in our Neighborhood
Robert Woods was a Curie High School Honor student and football player. He was a victim of gun violence in 2002 when he was gunned down in our neighborhood at the corner of Mason and Fulton. His life and promise is honored every year by his mother JoEthel Brown who with the help of...
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Austin Focus Leads to Award
AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT The Chicago Community Trust announced 31 Local Reporting Awards through its Community News Matters program for reporting on a variety of important issues affecting Chicago’s low-income areas. The program seeks to increase the flow of truthful, accurate and insightful local news and information and encourage innovative new models for providing news...
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Another Tool for Building a Safer Neighborhood
The weather is heating up and we can expect the activity in the streets to heat up as well. We insist that Austin residents get the same level of police service as any other community. If there is a shortage of police manpower, no area of Chicago should experience a greater loss than any...
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CANA on WVON’s African Diaspora radio program this past Sunday
CANA’s president appeared Sunday February 27th on WVON’s”African Diaspora” radio program. She represented a community view on the role of police officers in predominately African American communities. The program explored the way officers interact with our community and especially our youth. There is tremendous room for improvement by all officers, and particularly from African American...
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CANA Elevates Police Response Time Issue on Fox News
Your neighbors have once again focused attention on a major issue for many Chicago neighborhoods. We appeared on Fox News again last night. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/investigative/chicago-911-diversion-program-311-police-calls-burglaries-fill-out-reports-online-20110228# The lack of police response to certain types of 911 calls in our neighborhood has contributed to a diminished quality of life in Chicago’s less affluent wards and districts. We...
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CANA’s Work mentioned on local NPR affiliate WBEZ91.5
CANA’s work was mentioned in a news story on WBEZ, 91.5 last week. If you missed it, you can also hear or read the report at: http://www.wbez.org/story/24th-ward/crime-issue-boils-some-ward-races-simmers-others
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West Side Needs Fair Allocation of Police Services
After listening to an investigative report on WBEZ, 91.5 FM (National Public Radio), our president was motivated to make an unplanned visit to the Police Board Meeting. The report pointed out that the North Side aldermen and constituents were very vocal and actively demanding their share of police services. In contrast, they pointed out that...
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BGA Citizen Watchdogs and CANA Sound Alarms Over 911 Response
Hey Watchdogs! Check out the latest Watchdog Wall Post! http://watchdogwall.bettergov.org/ Ron and Serethea Reid came to the Citizen Watchdog Training Session in Austin. Now, they’re making news and making a difference as they fight for faster 911 response times in the Austin neighborhood. What have you...
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CANA’s work was featured on FOX evening news on Monday.
Click on the link below to view. http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/austin-neighborhood-police-response-times-911-chicago-cops-20110131 The filming took place at the January CANA meeting as well as at the January Police Board meeting. If you weren’t there you missed an opportunity to speak out to the entire city of Chicago about the issues we face in Austin. You...
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CANA CONTINUES TO STAND AT POLICE BOARD MEETING
As of January 19, 2011 we had not received a response from the Superintendent of Police, as she had promised in November 2010. In addition the Police Board informed us that a representative from the OEMC would be present at their January meeting to address questions related to their performance. We decided that we...
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Austin needs to ATTRACT A MAGNET SCHOOL
With limited advance advertisement, Chicago Public Schools conducted a public meeting about locating an elementary school on the near west side of Chicago. The purpose of the meeting was to gather public input before presenting a proposal to the Board of Education to locate a new SCIENCE, ENGINEERING, MATH AND TECHNOLOGY (S.T.E.M.) Magnet School...
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Better Government Association Watchdog Training Continued
The Better Government Association (BGA) continued its Citizen Watchdog Training on December 6, 2010 at Christ the King High School. The objectives of this session were to: explain how to avoid common roadblocks in use of the Freedom of Information Act; present a code of ethics for reporting; and explain how to post reports...
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CANA Members and Family Attend the Better Government Association’s “Citizen Watchdog Training”
On November 29, 2010 the venerable “Better Government Association (BGA)” conducted part one of the “Citizen Watchdog Training” course on Chicago’s West Side, the first time it has been offered in this part of the city. The training focuses on creating citizens who understand government and how to hold officials accountable. CANA was well represented with...
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Issues Raised at Nov 18th Police Board Meeting
Ron Reid representing the Central Austin Neighborhood Association I spoke last month about the moral imperative to address the epidemic levels of “nuisance crimes” that have devastated the quality of life in the Austin Community. We have seen some improvement in reducing levels of loitering and public drinking on a few of our corners....
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CANA PRESIDENT SPEAKS AT STATE’S ATTORNEY SEMINAR ON COMMUNITY SAFETY
Our president, Serethea Reid, was a member of the panel at the November 22, 2010 seminar “Breaking the Code of Silence” presented by the Office of the State’s Attorney,, West Side Community Justice Center. The objectives of the seminar were: Teach citizens how to describe a suspect and report a crime. Inform citizens of...
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CANA MAKES 2ND STAND AT POLICE BOARD MEETING
Once again CANA members stood out and up at the Police Board meeting on November 18th. There were 14 members in attendance, a 75% increase in our number. After picking up copies of the minutes of the previous meeting, we took “our” seats on the front two rows directly in front of the panel...
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WINNERS SPORTS BAR MAKES COMMUNITY FEEL A SENSE OF LOSS
On Wednesday evening, at 6:20PM when Ron and I entered the 15th District meeting room, we joined 13 other members of the community already waiting for the start of the scheduled 6:30PM meeting. As we scanned their faces and demeanors, and noted the faint smell of alcohol in the room, we surmised that most...
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