Safe Halloween Planned for Back of the Yards

This morning the Peace and Education Coalition of Back of the Yards announced plans for a safe Halloween in the neighborhood, one year after the murder of mother Leticia Barrera while trick-or-treating with her children.

The Chicago Police Department's 9th District will have extra officers on duty that day, and police are already warning gang members who are stopped or picked up now that a quiet Halloween this year will be very much in their best interests. "Stay home, have a pizza and watch Rambo if that's what you have to do," said Officer Tony Mejia.

The Coalition will pilot safe Halloween trick-or-treating hours this year, encouraging families and businesses to limit their trick-or-treating to the hours between 3 and 6 p.m. Flyers with this information will be distributed to local schools, churches and businesses.

The 12th Ward will host a Halloween party for families at 35th and Western from 6 to 9 p.m. There will be plenty of candy and a costume contest.

"In 1997, when we [the Coalition] started, nobody trick-or-treated," noted Sandy Traback, a Coalition co-founder and former principal of Chavez Elementary. "When people started going door-to-door it was a sign the community felt safer."

This year, noted Mike Anderer-McClelland, principal of San Miguel School, parents and students have expressed concerns about their safety if they choose to go trick-or-treating. The area around San Miguel and Hedges Elementary is very close to where Barrera was shot. At the end of the meeting two ideas had been proposed for that area: parent patrols and a Halloween party in the St. Michael's gym, but it was not clear whether either or both of these activities would be pursued.

This meeting fired me up to do the haunted basement the kids have been bugging me to do for years. And yes, I too have heard concerns about going trick-or-treating this year. I'm glad Coalition members are stepping up to address the issue.

A Tale of Two News Stories

Today's Trib has a long feature on the murder of Leticia Barrera and the efforts made to find her killers. So does the Sun Times. Of the two, the Sun-Times does a much better job of detailing the efforts the police and community made to work together.

Read it here.

I also appreciate this quote, in the Tribune story, from new police superintendent Jody Weis:

"This case would not have been solved as quickly without those witnesses and the support of the community," Weis said at a news conference at police headquarters. "When someone in the community knows something or sees something, their voice is more powerful than a gangbanger's gun."

I was privileged to attend the beat meeting in the Barrera family's beat last night and heard some of the story behind the story of how the community stepped up to work with police. It was also clearly the best organized beat meeting I've visited, ever.

Watch for a post in more detail tomorrow.

Suspect Arrrested in Halloween Murder

I was told earlier today that there would be a press conference at 4:30 this afternoon to announce that someone had been arrested in connection with the murder of Leticia Barrera on Halloween. If you forgot the details of the murder on Halloween at 48th and Seeley, see the Channel 2 story here.

Congratulations to Commander Eugene Roy and the police officers of the 9th district, who I am told did most of the legwork to find the suspect. I would also offer my congratulations to everyone in the community who helped the police with information and tips. At last week's Peace and Education Coalition meeting, the word was that they were close to a suspect and there was a pitch for contributions to increase the reward for information. I don't know if that did the trick or what, but whatever and whoever helped identify a legitimate suspect in the case deserves thanks.

I don't see any news on this yet, but will keep an eye out and link to any reports. Also, I really hope Mayor Daley makes as much noise to thank the community for bringing this information to light as he made critical noises in the immediate wake of the shooting. It takes a great deal of courage and faith to make information like this available to the police and the fact that someone did should not pass without notice.