In Englewood, skepticism surrounds police increase

CHICAGO | Shootings aren't exactly rare in Englewood.

The neighborhood has seen 60 murders in the past year — more than any other police district, according to Chicago Police ClearMap data.

The Harrison police district, which comprises the Garfield Park and Lawndale neighborhoods, is second to Englewood in homicides. There have been 37 murders in the past year there, according to ClearMap.

Combined, the two districts accounted for nearly a quarter of the city's murder and shooting incidents in 2011.

Though some may see a clear need for the police redeployment effort announced last month by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago police, some residents remain skeptical.

"My people do not like the police," said Deborah Payne, president of the Southwest Federation of Englewood Block Clubs. "They just do not like the police stations."

The relationship between community members and the police is already strained, Payne said, and an inherited mistrust of police seems deeply ingrained in the community.

However, despite neighborhood skepticism, residents should not be concerned about an increase in police resources, she said.

"If you're not doing anything you don't have anything to worry about," she said.

To increase patrols and reduce crime, the initiative has sent more than 100 officers to the crime-ridden neighborhoods since May. Officers from the Bureau of Organized Crime and Bureau of Detectives are also working in the districts, focusing on narcotics and gun-related crimes.

"The violence reduction initiative will build even stronger liaisons with residents, which is vital to keeping targeted areas free of narcotic and criminal activity," police spokeswoman Melissa Stratton said.

Adding to the community's concern is the lack of available information about the plan.

Residents haven't been given details about how the plan will affect them, said Asiaha Butler, president of the Resident Association of Greater Englewood.

"We really haven't seen what the initiative looks like," she said. "I don't know how receptive people are to an initiative that really doesn't involve us yet."

RAGE is developing its own safety plan for the neighborhood, and its members are eager to learn more about the city's plan in hopes of a cooperative effort. But the city has remained mum on much of the violence reduction initiative's details, according to RAGE member John Gholar.

"I think that the city is being a little bit careful about who finds out what," he said. "I really think that they want to do the right thing."

Experts said the focus on crime hot spots like Englewood and Harrison could be the right tactic.

Because the crimes typical of the neighborhoods are gang- and drug-related, the surface street policing of the past won't solve the deeper issues, said Mickey Lombardo, a professor of criminal justice at Loyola University Chicago. The police have to increase manpower and detective work, as the department is doing, to effect change, he said.

"Those are where the crime problems are," he said. "I think it could be a success as long as it is approached from that higher level — manpower-intensive, resource-intensive."

However, Fraternal Order of Police President Michael Shields isn't convinced this plan is acting in the city's best interest. By focusing on these neighborhoods, police are not only ignoring the rest of Chicago but reducing other neighborhoods' police resources, he said.

"If we truly want to have an impact on reducing crime, we have to hire more Chicago police officers," he said. "We can't steal from Peter to pay Paul."

The plan's supporters say the plan doesn't jeopardize the safety of other neighborhoods for the sake of one or two. Alderman Anthony Beale, of the 9th Ward, former chairman of the City Council's Police and Fire Committee, said placing officers from districts that receive few emergency calls on duty in neighborhoods where they're needed effectively targets violent crime without hampering safety in already safe neighborhoods.

"I've been pushing for a very long time to move resources where they are most needed, not wanted," he said. "The communities who need them the most — let's give them some relief."