Housing and Safety Committee
Safety
Introduction
The Edgewater Community, as are all communities in Chicago, is changing and we very much care about the changes – both positive and negative. The Safety Program of ECC makes every effort to work with the Chicago Police Department, elected officials, block clubs, residents, and businesses in Edgewater to provide information and alerts of concern to us all. The goal of the Safety Program is to assist in the highest quality of safety in all aspects of the lives of our diverse community.
The Safety Program provides information on BEAT Meetings, CAPS information, Safety Alerts, community programs on safety, public awareness and public meetings on safety issues and concerns of the neighborhood, and also provides court advocacy for victims of crime in Edgewater when appropriate.
Beat Information
Beat community meetings are hosted by the Police Department and are chaired by a police officer who is a member of the beat team. A member of the community, often called a beat facilitator, may co-chair the meeting and assist in establishing the agenda.
Meet the officers who patrol your beat. Work with your beat officers and your neighbors to determine the priority crime problems in your neighborhood. Find out what the police are doing -- and what you can do -- to fight crime and address the priority problems on your block and your beat. Meet your neighbors and get organized. You can do all of these, and more, at your beat community meeting.
The meetings provide you with the opportunity to help set the crime-fighting priorities in your community -- to work with your beat officers in identifying and prioritizing crime and disorder problems, in analyzing those problems, and in developing strategies to address them. Information from the beat community meeting is used by the beat team in creating the beat plan -- a tool that helps police officers and the community keep track of the priority problems on the beat and the progress made in addressing those problems.
Ongoing Activities
Monthly meetings of the Safety Committee held the last Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the ECC offices. All are welcome.
Monthly Beat Meetings for residents of Edgewater. The Beat areas in Edgewater are Beat 2433, 2023, 2022, 2012 and 2013. A Beat area is the area a police officer is assigned to patrol. The city is divided into police districts. The police districts for Edgewater are the 20th and 24th districts. The two districts are divided into beat patrol as previously listed.
Court Advocacy
What is Court Advocacy?
A tool in Chicago’s Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) through which neighbors and community members, working with the police, identify and track court cases and attend court. Participants accompany crime victims to court or attend trials that are important to the safety and well being of the community.
Why Bother?
Attendance at court shows support for the police, victims and witnesses of crime, and lets everyone involved in the judicial process know that the community is concerned about the outcome of the case. It sends a strong message to the judges, prosecutors and the accused. By these efforts, neighborhood residents and other stakeholders can greatly enhance the effectiveness of the criminal justice system for the entire community.
How Do You Get Involved?
The best way to stay abreast of court cases that might have an impact on your community is to attend community BEAT meetings. Each police district has a Court Advocacy subcommittee that tracks court cases. The type of cases followed will depend on the concerns of the community. Some districts may follow felony cases such as robberies, burglaries, or rape while other districts may follow chronic offenders that may only be charged with misdemeanor crimes. Still others may follow cases of taverns selling liquor to underage drinkers.
What Do You Have To Do?
For the program to succeed, it needs volunteers to attend court cases. It could be as little as a few hours two or three times a year to as much as weekly. It all depends on how involved you want to become. Because court cases are usually conducted during business hours, it may be necessary to take time off from work to attend the hearings.
What Are The Benefits?
Experience has shown that participation in court by community residents can have an impact in obtaining stiffer sentences and sending a message to defendants that this is a neighborhood that gets tough on criminals and the crimes they commit.
For more information about the ECC Court Advocacy program and upcoming cases please contact ECC at 773-334-5609.