Beat 2431 News - Rogers Park 24th Police District

Morse Theatre is a "boon to neighborhood" -- Tribune report

A Tribune story about the soon-to-open Morse Theatre describes it as a "boon to the neighborhood" and notes that  "it's uniquely positioned to draw audiences not just from its neighborhood but from two choice, close-by markets: Chicago's North Side, where many affluent concertgoers live, and the comparable North Shore suburbs of nearby Evanston, Wilmette and the like. Major name attractions, of course, could draw listeners from much farther afield."

Read the Tribune story here.

View a video a Tribune-produced video about the 299-seat restaurant/jazz and blues venue below.

Click the continuation for more details on the Morse Theatre.

Soo Liquors agrees to limits on booze and drug paraphernalia sales

Soo Liquors at 1420 W. Morse has signed a memo of understanding drafted by the office of 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore outlining limits on sales of some alcohol products and stopping the sale of items used to ingest illegal drugs.

Following are some of the terms of the memo of understanding signed in January:

Illegal Activities
• No loitering permitted inside and in front of my business
• Post a no loitering sign.
• Ask loiterers to move. If they do not cooperate, I agree to call 911, sign a complaint when officers arrive, and go to the court hearing.

Product Mix
• No Malt Liquor.
• No cheap wine.
• No small bottles (1/2 pints) sold for less than $3.00.
• No Phillies Blunts.
• No Rolling Papers.
• No Chor Boys.
• No Glass Pipes.

The memo was signed after Soo Liquors came to the alderman for assistance in getting a license for its canopy sign. The owner was ticketed for not having a current license for the sign. It has since been removed. Another part of the agreement deals with store's appearance:

Storefront Appearance
• Remove overhead sign.
• Remove sign ironwork.
• Remove iron grates and look into other types of security (such as safety glass, security cameras and alarm systems)
• Apply for help with Dev Corp North Business Improvement Program to design a canopy.
• Install Canopy after receiving approval from Dev Corp North BIP and Alderman Moore’s Office.

Soo's owner also agreed to attend monthly Beat 2431 meetings.

Last year, the city passed the "Deleterious Impact / Public Nuisance Ordinance" amending the Chicago Liquor Code. IT was passed in response to the state Supreme Court striking down the law to vote a single address dry.

Read the continuation for highlights of the ordinance. It's a new tool we can use to make Soo Liquors clean up its act.

Minutes from Feb. 11, 2008, CAPS meeting

You can download a PDF of minutes from the 2/11/2008 Beat 2431 meeting here. Below is the text version of the minutes.

Rogers Park, 24th Police District, Beat 2431
CAPS Meeting, February 11, 2008
Rogers Park Community Council Office
1530 W. Morse Avenue

Officiates:

Kevin O’Neil, Facilitator, CAPS Beat 2431
Beat Team Leader Sgt. John Baranowski

Welcome and introductions: Meeting called to order at 7:03 pm. About 20 people (including police) attended on a bitter cold night.

I. Police crime report:  Beat Team Leader Sgt. John Baranowski presented the Top Ten crimes for the month of January. Find them here. The top three were:
• Eight arrests for possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana.
• Six incidents of harassment by telephone.
• Five reports of domestic battery (simple battery).
• Five reports of criminal damage to vehicle.
There were 31 arrests on the beat in January, compared to 26 in December.

II.  Updates on Old Problems: 
1340 W. Morse / 1345 W. Lunt
Both buildings have now been vacated of tenants. New roofs have been installed on both, and installation begins this week of new windows. See this report for more details on the buildings.

Soo Liquors, 1420 W. Morse
Kevin O’Neil announced that Soo Liquors had signed a Memorandum of Understanding drafted by Alderman Joe Moore’s office. Click here for details on the memo. Soo’s owner signed the memo after he was cited for not having a proper license for the canopy sign hanging over the sidewalk. The sign was removed. The alderman’s office said they wouldn’t approve of the sign license unless the owner signed the memo and worked with DevCorp North to design a canopy sign.

Among other promises, Soo’s owners said they would sign complaints against loiterers, stop selling Phillies “blunt” cigars (used for smoking marijuana), and stop selling rolling papers, glass pipes, malt liquor, cheap wine and small half pints of booze costing less than $3. Read this post for more details.

III.  Identify New Problem areas: 

A citizen who lives near Pratt and Bosworth brought up the ongoing problem of gang loitering in the area. Community Policing Offer Steven Cohen said that area is a priority of Beat 2432, since the problem buildings are in that beat on the south side of Pratt. Sgt. Baranowski suggested that citizens begin keeping activity logs, noting times and dates of suspicious activity, descriptions of loiterers and descriptions of cars and plate numbers.

The citizen suggested we “turn up the heat” on the owner of the convenience store on the northwest corner of Pratt and Ashland. O’Neil said he would try to facilitate a meeting with the alderman’s office, the store owner and building owner, the Living Word church. The same citizen also reported a window was missing on the ground level of the building at the southwest corner of Farwell and Ashland. The building is vacant and had been undergoing renovations, though they seemed to have come to a stop. He was advised to call 311 about that.

(Read the continuation of this post for January crimes in and around Pratt and Bosworth.)

Another citizen reported being assaulted by someone she knew in a building in the 6800 block on N. Sheridan. She asked to discuss the matter privately with officers after the meeting.

IV. Beat priorities:

The discussion continued from the January meeting about beat priorities for the year.  Other priorities are illegal activities at Pratt and Bosworth/Ashland and at Soo Liquors.

V. Announcements:

• The next Beat Meeting is on Monday, March 17, 2008. In March we go back to our regular meeting date of the third Monday of the month.
• Kevin adjourned the meeting at 7:50 pm.

Big crime drop in 2007 for Beat 2431 and 24th District

Index crime in 2007 showed double-digit decreases in both Beat 2431 and the 24th Police District as a whole, compared to 2006.

In Beat 2431, index crime dropped 11.4% in 2007 compared with 2006. There were 36 fewer crime victims in 2007 -- 316 reports of index crime vs. 352 in 2006. Index crimes includes homicide, criminal sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and battery, burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft.

Aggravated assault and battery fell the most -- a 40% drop with with 27 reported in 2007 vs. 45 in 2006. However, robberies increased 24.4% -- 51 in 2007 vs. 41 in 2006. There were 7 fewer burglaries in 2007, (41 vs. 48 in 2006) representing a 14.6% decrease. Thefts dropped 8.5% (172 in 2007 vs. 188 in 2006), and car theft decreased 11.4% (23 vs. 26).

Meanwhile, the 24th Police District boasted the largest decrease in index crime of any of the 25 police districts citywide -- a 13.6% dip. Citywide, index crime dropped 3.47%. Car theft (23%) and robbery (20%) showed the biggest drops in the 24th District.

The 24th Police District Cmdr. Bruce Rottner credited both citizen participation in the CAPS program and great work by police officers for the crime decreases.