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HPKC request to Police to declare Bessie Coleman Park area (54th Drexel) declared a crime "hot spot/"

February 2 2006 HPKCC board resolution and letter, echoing that of Bessie Coleman Park Council

Motion:

Whereas: There has been a continued aggravated problem with serious crime and quality of life issues for parts of west Hyde Park since early 2005,

And Whereas the Bessie Coleman Park Advisory Council has asked for designation of that park’s vicinity as a Gang and Drug Loitering Hot Spot for increased police presence,

And Whereas the Council has expressed its interest for the Conference to back its requests to Police Superintendent Cline,

And Whereas the concern and requests of the Bessie Coleman Park Council are congruent with the concerns and interest of the Conference,

Therefore be it Resolved that the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference directs that the following letter and attachments be sent to Superintendent Philip Cline and co-correspondents:

Draft text of letter for Feb. 2, 2006 HPKCC Board consideration per motion by Gary Ossewaarde. Letter as sent was slightly revised for the February 22 Hyde Park Herald.

February 2, 2006

Philip J. Cline
Superintendent
Chicago Police Department
3510 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60653

Dear Superintendent Cline:

The Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, its Safety, and its Parks Committees join the Bessie Coleman Park Advisory Council in asking that a sustained elevated police presence--specifically a Hot Spot designation, be established for 54th Street and adjacent Drexel, Maryland and Cottage Grove Avenues (detailed below) including Bessie Coleman Park in Beat 2131 of the 21st Police District.

In addition, we ask for prompt appointment of a Community Policing (CAPS) Sergeant, able to work with the Coleman Park Council, to replace deservedly promoted Scott J. Oberg.

In the past year, the area between South Drexel, Maryland and Cottage Grove Avenues, from 55th to 53rd streets, , has gone from being a relatively quiet residential street to a zone dominated by drive-by gunfire, targeted shootings, open drug sales, and loiterers.The daily and nightly loitering tends to occur in Bessie Coleman Park, at the southwest and northwest corners of Drexel and 54th, at 5439 South Drexel and 5425 S. Drexel, at the southwest corner of 53rd and Drexel and at the northwest and southwest corners of 54th and Maryland. The loitering involves disruptively noisy yelling and car-horn blowing. Finally, 14 shooting episodes in West Hyde Park from May through December 2005 have resulted in deaths and severe injuries. Please see the attached listing of West Hyde Park shootings compiled by the South East Chicago Commission.

Since the violence started, the community has organized residents, participated actively in Beat 2131 (not less than 20 of the area’s residents consistently attend beat 2131 meetings), and regularly called both the 21st District Police and the University of Chicago Police when any action occurs.
The community has also formed the Bessie Coleman Park Advisory Council, working with the Chicago Park District to improve the local play lot and to take it back from the drug dealers and gang members. The area aldermen have held well-attended community meetings where residents voiced their concerns and offered ideas to stabilize the neighborhood.

The residents and businesses in the area have demonstrated their concern and willingness to work with the police for the security of their neighborhood. They and the Conference need your help. Again, specifically we need a CAPS Sergeant, an elevated, sustained police presence in west Hyde Park, and to have the area designated and effectively patrolled as a Chicago Police Department “Hot Spot.”

The Conference appreciates designation of the area around 48th and Drexel a Hot Spot. In order to effectively clean up west Hyde Park, the associated problem area surrounding 54th and Drexel needs the same.

Respectfully yours,

George W. Rumsey
President Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference

Cc: 1st Area Commander, 21st Distr. Cdr. Adrienne Stanley, Alderman Leslie Hairston (4th), Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (5th), Park Supervisor Rick Shaheen, Kevin Ryan (Park District police), Peter Cassel (Bessie Coleman Council), Bob Mason (SECC), Hyde Park Herald, Rudy Nimocks (UC Police)

Attached: record of criminal activity in the area