THE CHAMP: August 2013 May Become Worst Robbery Month On Record

August 2013 may go on-record as the single worst month for robberies in Wrigleyville and Boystown in at least 13 years.

As of August 23, the neighborhood had racked up 32 robberies for the month, six shy of the record 38 robberies reported in June of last year.

Considering the mayhem that swept through the area last Friday night into Saturday morning is not included in the data set and another weekend is still about to begin, the smart money is on August 2013 taking the top spot.

The source for our graphic is the City of Chicago Data Portal, which catalogues every crime reported to Chicago police since January 1, 2001. 

I'LL BE BACK: Man Threatens Bar Staff

A man threatened to come back with a knife after employees at Roscoe's Tavern, 3356 N. Halsted, held his apparently fake ID and removed him from the premises. There just happened to be a police car on the other side of the street, so the response was remarkably quick. Officers made contact with a man matching the suspect's description, but no arrest was made.

SMOKED: Transvestite Swipes Shopkeeper's Phone

A cross-dresser with a taste for 90's fashion stole an employee's phone from Halsted Smoke Shop, 3448 N. Halsted, at 11:35PM Thursday.

The cross-dressing klepto, described as a male black, 6' tall, wearing a black top and Daisy Dukes-style jean cutoff shorts was last seen running southbound on Halsted from Newport.

Chicago Police Department case #TBD

DAILY TICKER: Friday, August 30, 2013

No new incident reports were released by the city today.

NOW UP: Online Petition

An online petition is now up and ready for your signature.

A successful petition could bring extra weight to concerns expressed at next week's CAPS meetings.

From the comments:

I've put together a group of neighborhood residents, and we're planning what actions we can take to make a difference in our own way. 

For starters, we've posted an on-line petition that will go to the mayor, Superintendent McCarthy, Aldermen Tunney and Cappleman and Police Commander Voulgaris. We've avoided being contentious or confrontational, and instead have offered up what we think needs to be done to imrove the conditions in the neighborhood. I hope people will sign it, and pass it off to others to sign. The more signatures we can get the better it will be when we meet with some of these figures in person.

The petition addresses crime throughout the area. Readers in neighboring parts of Lake View are encouraged to sign.

Image: Keepcalm-o-matic

RIGHT UP YOUR ALLEY: Curious Gents Jackrabbit Away From Cops

A witness reported two men behaving suspiciously in the alley between Buckingham and Aldine, east of Halsted around 5 o'clock this morning. According to the caller, two male blacks, one of whom wore khaki pants, were looking into car windows and pulling on car doors as they walked along.

Quickly-responding officers arrived in time to see the subjects, one of whom was further described as a male black, 6-feet tall, wearing a sleeveless white t-shirt, hop a fence and run northbound in the 600 block of Buckingham. A citizen reported seeing them continue running northbound past Broadway United Methodist church. The individuals were not located.

Coincidentally, minutes after the suspects fled Buckingham, at 5:13AM, a resident reported a man stealing money from an apartment building's laundry room in the 700 block of Brompton. The offender, a male black 6'4" to 6'5" tall with braided hair who wore a gray t-shirt, and a baseball hat, was gone when officers arrived.

MORNING REPORT: Foot Chase; Taggers

Foot Powder?
A tactical unit that went to investigate a report of narcotics sales taking place on the street at Clark and Belmont wound up in a foot chase of their suspect. Officers chased the alleged dealer from Clark to Halsted, then north to Melrose, and south through an alley before making the arrest on Belmont just east of Halsted at 10:30pm.

Interesting Folks
Another in our series of reports on people who've crossed paths with police officers in our neighborhood. Last night around 10PM, Mr. RLP was stopped by officers at Halsted and Waveland. An ID check revealed that RLP is a former parolee and a known member of the Black Souls street gang. He has no outstanding warrants, so RLP was sent on his way to enjoy the electric nightlife of Wrigleyville and Boystown.

Bad Paint Job
A witness reported seeing two subjects spray paint graffiti onto a building in the area of Roscoe and Kenmore around 1:30 this morning. The offenders' descriptions are

1) Male Hispanic in his 20's, 5'6" tall, medium build, wearing a white and blue cap, white t-shirt, and blue jeans 

2) Male white in his 20's, white t-shirt, shorts.

The suspects were last seen walking westbound on Roscoe.

NOTES: September CAPS; Southport Neighbors; A Victim's Story

The CWBers had our bi-monthly "editorial meeting" at Syndey Marovitz yesterday. Our email and incoming comments folders were bursting when we returned.

Southport Neighbors
Our friends to the west in the Southport Neighbors area putting together a neighborhood watch program after two recent incidents near Juniper Park.

Last week, a resident of that area emailed us with details of an apparent robbery around 1 o'clock last Monday afternoon near the park. According to the emailer, two nannies were robbed of their cellphones and jewelry. The robberies do not appear to have been reported to police.

Our knowledge of last week's alleged robbery is what led us to run our report this Monday of a confirmed robbery at 1:40PM, less than two blocks from Juniper Park.

http://crimeinboystown.blogspot.com/2013/08/afternoon-robbery-woman-strongarm-ed.html

Residents of the Southport area who want to get involved should contact the Southport Neighbors Association.

September CAPS
Here are the dates for September's CAPS meetings.

Beats 1923, 1925, and 1934 (Yellow areas on the map below)
Wednesday, September 4, 7PM
19th district police station on Addison

Beats 1924 and 1933 (Pink areas on the map)
Thursday, September 12, 7PM
Illinois Masonic Medical Center, 836 W. Wellington. The front desk will direct you to the auditorium.

They don't serve beverages, but they usually offer plenty of "Kool Aid."

From the comments

I'm a resident on Wilton. Was mugged on August 16th at 11:30 PM by several men under red line - be careful. I'm 6'3 - 280. Not an easy target. 

Had conversations with applicable alderman today. Meeting with commander [Thursday] morning. I AM begging for creative ideas to open the conservation and I am demanding action. My ideas or issues mine didn't make the stats - I'm concerned its under reported Bike patrol Foot patrol - other than just game days We need to stand up and SPEAK out. Ver frustrated. Healing from broken bones and lacerations. All good on the healing side. Can't let this happen to my GF.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and for taking a stand. Best wishes to you for a speedy recovery.

Robberies are severely underreported in this neighborhood for a variety of reasons.

You are right on track with your other thoughts. Our readers will certainly have ideas of their own, but here are a few that we offer:

DAILY TICKER: Thursday, August 29, 2013

Details of one robbery were released by the city today:

HW418547
8/22/2013 12:01AM
600 W BUCKINGHAM
ROBBERYARMED:OTH DANGEROUS WEAPON
SIDEWALK

FISTICUFFS: 1 Arrested After Halsted Street Melee

Several callers reported a crowd of 15 spectators watching a 5-person fistfight on the corner of Halsted and Buckingham at 12:15 this morning.

Officers arrived quickly, but the fight was over when they rolled up. A victim who had been punched in the face remained on-scene. They searched the area with the victim in an effort to find the offender, a male black, 6'2", wearing a white hat, white shirt, and white shorts.

The man was found and taken into custody at 1:40AM outside of Sinbad's restaurant, 921 W. Belmont, near the Red Line station.

Chicago Police Department case #HW426849

DAILY TICKER: Wednesday, August 28, 2013

The city confirmed one more area robbery today. CWB's original reporting is linked.

HW416849 21 Aug 02:38AM 3200 N DAYTON  STRONGARM - NO WEAPON STREET

We also audited CWB's 2013 database, removing incidents that are no longer classified as robberies and adding incidents that have been subsequently classified as such. The following changes were made to reflect publicly-available city data:

Removed
HW114329 1/12/13 4:15AM 1100 W BELMONT AVE STRONGARM - NO WEAPON ALLEY
HW401115 8/10/13 12:38 AM 037XX N PINE GROVE ATTEMPT: STRONGARM-NO WEAPON STREET

Added
HW392602 08/04/13 7:20 AM 800 W NEWPORT ATTEMPT: STRONGARM-NO WEAPON SIDEWALK
HW393808 08/05/13 4:30 AM 900 W BELMONT STRONGARM - NO WEAPON CTA TRAIN
HW393792 08/05/13 3:15 AM 1100 W IRVING PARK ATTEMPT: STRONGARM-NO WEAPON STREET

REDEYE/TRIBUNE: Muggings Up In Lakeview

Welcome aboard, Chicago Tribune and Redeye.  The mother-daughter of Chicago print news runs the story this afternoon.

A RedEye analysis of the city's crime data shows that reported summertime muggings have been slowly climbing over recent years, from about 300 thefts and robberies reported in 2008 to more than 450 this year.

Not all incidents are included in the data, however, because some were accompanied by more severe offenses. But this summer's numbers provide a sketch of the area's crime hotspots at a time when many community members are clamoring for more information from the police department and other community leaders on anti-crime efforts.

The opening of the second paragraph is something we don't mention here very often. If a person gets terribly stabbed and robbed, the incident will only be recorded as a stabbing (aggravated battery) in the city's publicly-available data. The robbery portion does not show up in the city's online stats.  Here's an excellent example of that.

It's good to have the Trib and Redeye's analysis out there.  We may quibble with some things (The commander "announced" that beat 1924 is #1 in robberies? We'd say he "confessed.") but, all in all, this is an important step toward getting past the denials and on to the solutions.

ALL GROWED UP: Interactive Maps Plot 2013, 2003 Robberies

Online now are two interactive maps from CWB.

Click here for the 2003 interactive map.  Click here for the 2013 interactive map.

The first map plots every robbery reported to police from July 20 to August 19, 2013, in the area between Irving Park Road, Belmont, Southport, and Lake Michigan. That's the area covered by today's police beats 1923, 1924, and 1925*.

The second interactive map plots robberies during the same period a decade earlier, July 20 to August 19, 2003.

You can zoom in, zoom out, and click on each marker for details about the crime(s). Some markers in 2013 represent multiple crimes in the same location.

We wanted to label all of this year's robberies with letters like 2003's are, but the English alphabet isn't long enough for that.

There were 15 robberies a decade ago, there were 41 robberies this year. That's not easy to do with crime being "down" so much.

*-CPD drew new beat boundaries in 2012. You can read more about how CWB mitigates the effects of the re-drawing by clicking "read more" below.

LINK: Report Graffiti To The City

There's been a bit of conversation in our comments and elsewhere lately about graffiti problems.

Submitting graffiti removal requests to the city is painless. We've added a direct link to the online request form to the green ribbon at the top of every CWB page. The form allows you to upload a photo of the "artwork," too.

Recommended.

Here are few pix that have come our way, including one by an apparently well-read jackass:

SCHOOLED: Finally, A Night of Peace

What a delightfully quiet night.  It was like a time machine ride to 2010.

DAILY TICKER: Tuesday, August 27, 2013

The city released information today on one new robbery in the area from Monday, August 19.
CWB has no original reporting on this incident.

HW414133 19 Aug 10:45AM 3700 N FREMONT ATTEMPT:ARMED-OTHER DANG WEAP NO ARREST SIDEWALK