Gangs not welcome in West Bucktown

A turf war has broken out on Chicago’s West Side between a group of mothers and several groups of teenagers who residents say resemble gangs.

The women are working with 1st Ward Ald. Manny Flores, 14th District police officers and the Chicago Park District to clean up Maplewood Park and the 1600 block of Maplewood Ave. where they live in West Bucktown.

“We are tired of them disturbing the peace,” said area resident Lucy Gerena. “Our children and grandchildren walk these streets and play in the park so we are concerned for their safety.”

After a year of discussing this issue at their local CAPS meeting, which stands for Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy and is aimed at encouraging the community to work with police to reduce crime, the women say they are surprised police are beginning to take them seriously.

“We have done everything the police have told us to do to curb this problem,” said Kathi Pruett. “We have started a phone tree, so that we can call each other when we see suspicious activity.”

“We know the police respond more when they receive several complaints,” she added.

Pruett said the majority of neighbors also started a letter-writing campaign to Flores and the park district insisting the basketball goals in the park be taken down because gangs hangout underneath them.

“Nobody wanted to take the goals away from the kids who actually used them to play basketball,” said Pruett. “But we believe getting them taken down sends a signal to the gangs; you are not welcome here.”

The goals came down in mid-September, about the same time residents started noticing an increase in groups of teenagers hanging out on their sidewalks.

“The kids positioned themselves against my fence the other night,” said Pruett. “They don’t even live on the block!”

“The fact that they appear so comfortable worries me most,” she added. “But we are banning together to take back our street, no questions asked.”

The women say it is not just a matter of kids drinking in the streets since their activities also embrace characteristics of drug dealing.

“Cars come and go all night,” said Gerena. “Some cars park and people get out, and some of them just stop and the kids go up to the car.”

“It is obvious people are handing things in and out of car windows and getting money in return,” said Stephanie Miller, who watches from her window.

The women see the kids gathered on their street between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. and say the kids also use this time to graffiti park equipment and litter the streets with drug paraphernalia and unsanitary objects.

“Last time, I was walking my 2 1/2-year-old twins through the park I found five crack baggies,” said Miller.

“I see these bags lying around all the time,” said Gerena. “I also see used needles, condoms and beer bottles.

Residents say the next step falls to their district police, who said at the September CAPS meeting the women might have a solid argument in getting their block considered a hot spot.

“A hot spot is an area in the district no longer than two blocks that has a high percentage of gang and narcotic activity,” said 14th District Police Officer Robert Sekera.

An area classified as a hot spot gives police legal authority to disperse groups exhibiting gang activity and arrest them if they come within sight or sound of the area during the time police tell them to stay away.

Four arrests have been made on the 1600 and 1700 block of Maplewood Ave. in September, said Sekera, but none of them have been related to gang activity.

“We need arrests in this area to be gang- or narcotic-related in order for it to become a hot spot,” said Sekera. “Blocks go up against other blocks in the district; they are compared for consideration.”

There are currently four hot spots in the 14th district.