Sorry, I'm behind the times. Just spotted this story from the Chicago Sun Times. The link will stop working by Friday April 24, so the gist of it is below.
Juan Cazares, 14, was shot and killed Thursday night at the corner of 50th and Wood, near Cornell Square Park, where he had just finished playing a basketball game. I appreciate reporter Annie Sweeney's pains to make clear that this kid was a human being and that this neighborhood is working hard to reduce violence. She's done a lot of reporting on this neighborhood and it shows.
However, I do have to make a comment based on my experience with kids who have left school for one reason or another. Juan was a student at Richard Milburn Alternative High School. Last I knew it was primarily serving students who had been expelled from Chicago Public Schools, so although the piece portrays Juan as a nice kid, I'm sure he was a complicated kid, too. Don't get me wrong; that doesn't mean he should have been killed. Nobody, especially nobody 14 years old, deserves to die. But if there's one thing I've learned from living her for nearly five years, everything is a lot more complicated than it looks on the surface.
My prayers go out to Juan and his family. I'm sure he was a lot like Joey and the other boys I know over here on our block, which isn't very far away from his home or from the corner where he died. It's stories like this that make me really nervous about raising a kid, especially a boy, here. It's so easy to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's also easy for teenage hijinks to get out of hand with terrible, even fatal consequences.
That last point is what it turns out the pushup showdown on Saturday was all about. After the pushup contest ended, I went to the barbecue next door and Peter Pan's uncle told me how it all got started. The older men in the crowd, Yup-yup included, were trying to make a point to the young boys about staying out of trouble--that tagging and gangbanging are not how you prove your manhood. "It's not like I'm a saint--I did my little things when I was their age, too, but somebody has to show them right from wrong," Peter Pan's uncle said.
A woman sitting by the grill told me she has a seven-year-old son. She said, "I already told him, if I see you trying to join a gang, I'm going to take a baseball bat to you myself. If anybody's going to hurt you like that, it's going to be me, not some little gangbanger." She was referring to the gang initiation rite known as "violation in," where to join you have to endure a beating from the gang. It's like frat hazing on steroids.
I'm just fascinated that Yup-yup got in on the "don't do it" message. It's too bad most of those young boys probably aren't connecting the dots between what they're up to now and guys like Yup-yup and even Tony. Those thugs who live to be old thugs never die, they just end up hustling and washing cars and doing other people's yard work, when they aren't locked up.
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Oscar Contreras on WBEZ's 848
I'm glad to see Oscar has landed on his feet since Catholic Charities cut funds for Street Intervention here in Back of the Yards. Yesterday Oscar and two young men from other parts of the city were on WBEZ 91.5 FM's show Eight Forty-Eight to talk about CeaseFire and how they work to prevent gang violence. During the piece, Oscar says he's already been to a dozen wakes this year.
For anyone interested in how communities can work together, especially with young people, to respond to violence, there will be a community forum in Little Village on Saturday April 4, at Farragut High School, 2345 S. Christiana, from 10 a.m. to 4 pm. You can find out more about it here.
For anyone interested in how communities can work together, especially with young people, to respond to violence, there will be a community forum in Little Village on Saturday April 4, at Farragut High School, 2345 S. Christiana, from 10 a.m. to 4 pm. You can find out more about it here.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
November 8 Community Forum to End Violence
State Representative Esther Golar is sponsoring a community forum on ending violence Saturday, November 8 at John Hope High School, 5515 S. Lowe. The flyer says there will be pizza, snacks and giveaways.
The event is cosponsored by The Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Seventh District CAPS, U.N.I.O.N Impact Center, For Kids' Sake and UCAN.
For more information, contact Chevelle Bailey at 312-738-5913 or baileyc@ucanchicago.org
The event is cosponsored by The Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Seventh District CAPS, U.N.I.O.N Impact Center, For Kids' Sake and UCAN.
For more information, contact Chevelle Bailey at 312-738-5913 or baileyc@ucanchicago.org
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Gunshots Near 48th and Ashland
Around 4:45 on Sunday 9/21, I was at a birthday party for a six-year-old on the 4800 block of South Marshfield. Just as I was leaving the party to travel to another party over in Hyde Park, a series of six gunshots went off somewhere to the northeast. They were really loud, so clearly quite close. Then a blue van came screaming down 48th, westbound, closely followed by an unmarked police car flashing lights and wailing its sirens.
The driver of the van clearly didn't know the neighborhood; the van turned north onto Marshfield, which dead-ends at 47th. Right now there's construction so it is even harder than usual to get through. So we all saw the cops catch the van and whoever was in it. I have no idea whether anyone was hit by the gunfire.
Update 9/25: I heard tonight at the NHS barbecue that the shots last Sunday were from an AK-47, and that a second automatic weapon was involved. Yikes. I was also told the police captured one AK but the other is still out there somewhere.
The driver of the van clearly didn't know the neighborhood; the van turned north onto Marshfield, which dead-ends at 47th. Right now there's construction so it is even harder than usual to get through. So we all saw the cops catch the van and whoever was in it. I have no idea whether anyone was hit by the gunfire.
Update 9/25: I heard tonight at the NHS barbecue that the shots last Sunday were from an AK-47, and that a second automatic weapon was involved. Yikes. I was also told the police captured one AK but the other is still out there somewhere.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
One-Minute Political Rant
OK, can I just say that Rod Blagojevich has done it again? Two days ago he announced
a $150 million anti-violence initiative including summer jobs and after-school activities for young people. Sounds great, right?
As usual with the governor's bright ideas, everything about it is great except how we're going to pay for it. State Rep. Suzana Mendoza is quoted in this Sun-Times story calling the plan "a pipe dream." So far the $150 mil is supposed to come from selling the lottery and "a state capital deal." How capital money fits into this is way beyond me.
Apparently today Mayor Daley is asking the same question. I won't go into the bad blood between him and Rod, but the question is very legitimate.
And it drives me crazy the same man who cut money for street intervention workers thinks he can come out now with a half-baked plan and look like a hero. Dream on, Rod, but could someone else please wake up and solve this mess?
a $150 million anti-violence initiative including summer jobs and after-school activities for young people. Sounds great, right?
As usual with the governor's bright ideas, everything about it is great except how we're going to pay for it. State Rep. Suzana Mendoza is quoted in this Sun-Times story calling the plan "a pipe dream." So far the $150 mil is supposed to come from selling the lottery and "a state capital deal." How capital money fits into this is way beyond me.
Apparently today Mayor Daley is asking the same question. I won't go into the bad blood between him and Rod, but the question is very legitimate.
And it drives me crazy the same man who cut money for street intervention workers thinks he can come out now with a half-baked plan and look like a hero. Dream on, Rod, but could someone else please wake up and solve this mess?
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Violence Prevention, Large and Small Scale
Obviously there's been a lot of buzz in Chicago lately about youth and gang-related violence. It's ironic to me that all these people, including the Mayor, are crying about what to do, when they know something about what to do and its funding was cut.
I refer to Project CeaseFire, a public health initiative out of the University of Illinois Chicago that has been working since 1995 to reduce street shootings. On the web site, the history runs through 2006, when CeaseFire was established or getting started in 15 Chicago neighborhoods, plus other sites around Illinois.
What the site doesn't mention is that CeaseFire itself became a victim of the budget shootout in Springfield last summer. The agency lost $6 million in state money, which cut 140 violence prevention workers. This ABC story gives details. Although some alternate monies were found and some of those people even kept on working for free (I heard), getting the work done became a lot harder.
CeaseFire's executive director, Tio Hardiman, hit the crux of the problem on the head in an MSNBC story about the current wave of shootings and efforts to stop the violence. To stop shootings, he said, petty arguments have to be resolved quickly and peacefully. "There's really a dire need for more conflict resolution training."
That's the big scale. On the small scale, Thursday afternoon I happened to be inside the Chavez Upper Grade Center right around dismissal, at 1:45 p.m. One of Joey's teachers had offered to give him a ride to his first class of the new session at Marwen, so I went to confirm arrangements. After we were done, I came outside and found one of the girls from the next block up from my house waiting around for her brother. We agreed to walk home together.
Her brother came out with a big gaggle of other boys. His sister and I talked about school--she's learning about Native Americans and she and her classmates are rehearsing for a performance of Native American stories. We got about half a block ahead of the guys. I, being a clueless adult, was pretty focused on our conversation. She, being a smart kid, kept slowing down and making sure we weren't too far ahead of her brother and the boys I took to be his friends.
When we got south of the viaduct on Hermitage, their noise reached a new height and intensity. We stopped and turned around to find them forming the classic fight circle and saw her brother putting his books down and handing off his jacket.
She and I took off running. I was still in a skirt and heeled boots from being downtown that morning, so I must have looked pretty funny galumphing toward them and hollering, "Hey! What are you doing? Cut that out!" The northern half of the ring turned and ran back past the viaduct, disappearing from sight.
Fortunately, we got there before anybody took a swing. Her brother told me those boys had been bothering him all day long in school and everybody had been waiting to get out of there so they could settle it on the street. I tried to ask him if he thought it was over or if the problem would be back tomorrow, but it started to rain harder and he ran for his house's front door.
"Thanks for walking with us," his sister said.
I think about this and I think about a question I asked the Marshfield Avenue boxers one day as we were walking to Medicine Man's car. Peter Pan was bragging to me and the two or three other guys present about how the oldest Brady boy had just won a fight. I asked all of them, including Big Brady, if they knew other ways to settle an argument besides fighting. They all said no.
"Would you like to learn some?" I asked. Peter Pan looked at me with the classic "how sissy is that!?" kind of expression. Joey didn't say anything. Big Brady Boy actually said yes.
If anybody knows of some big tough guys who teach conflict resolution skills to preteen boys, send them my way, would you? Or maybe we just need to get back to boxing. I trust those guys to teach my neighbors how to save their punches for the ring.
I refer to Project CeaseFire, a public health initiative out of the University of Illinois Chicago that has been working since 1995 to reduce street shootings. On the web site, the history runs through 2006, when CeaseFire was established or getting started in 15 Chicago neighborhoods, plus other sites around Illinois.
What the site doesn't mention is that CeaseFire itself became a victim of the budget shootout in Springfield last summer. The agency lost $6 million in state money, which cut 140 violence prevention workers. This ABC story gives details. Although some alternate monies were found and some of those people even kept on working for free (I heard), getting the work done became a lot harder.
CeaseFire's executive director, Tio Hardiman, hit the crux of the problem on the head in an MSNBC story about the current wave of shootings and efforts to stop the violence. To stop shootings, he said, petty arguments have to be resolved quickly and peacefully. "There's really a dire need for more conflict resolution training."
That's the big scale. On the small scale, Thursday afternoon I happened to be inside the Chavez Upper Grade Center right around dismissal, at 1:45 p.m. One of Joey's teachers had offered to give him a ride to his first class of the new session at Marwen, so I went to confirm arrangements. After we were done, I came outside and found one of the girls from the next block up from my house waiting around for her brother. We agreed to walk home together.
Her brother came out with a big gaggle of other boys. His sister and I talked about school--she's learning about Native Americans and she and her classmates are rehearsing for a performance of Native American stories. We got about half a block ahead of the guys. I, being a clueless adult, was pretty focused on our conversation. She, being a smart kid, kept slowing down and making sure we weren't too far ahead of her brother and the boys I took to be his friends.
When we got south of the viaduct on Hermitage, their noise reached a new height and intensity. We stopped and turned around to find them forming the classic fight circle and saw her brother putting his books down and handing off his jacket.
She and I took off running. I was still in a skirt and heeled boots from being downtown that morning, so I must have looked pretty funny galumphing toward them and hollering, "Hey! What are you doing? Cut that out!" The northern half of the ring turned and ran back past the viaduct, disappearing from sight.
Fortunately, we got there before anybody took a swing. Her brother told me those boys had been bothering him all day long in school and everybody had been waiting to get out of there so they could settle it on the street. I tried to ask him if he thought it was over or if the problem would be back tomorrow, but it started to rain harder and he ran for his house's front door.
"Thanks for walking with us," his sister said.
I think about this and I think about a question I asked the Marshfield Avenue boxers one day as we were walking to Medicine Man's car. Peter Pan was bragging to me and the two or three other guys present about how the oldest Brady boy had just won a fight. I asked all of them, including Big Brady, if they knew other ways to settle an argument besides fighting. They all said no.
"Would you like to learn some?" I asked. Peter Pan looked at me with the classic "how sissy is that!?" kind of expression. Joey didn't say anything. Big Brady Boy actually said yes.
If anybody knows of some big tough guys who teach conflict resolution skills to preteen boys, send them my way, would you? Or maybe we just need to get back to boxing. I trust those guys to teach my neighbors how to save their punches for the ring.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Secrets of a Successful Beat Meeting
On Thursday night, less than two hours after the announcement that that a suspect had been arrested in the murder of Leticia Barrera, about 20 people from the beat where she lived and died were sitting down in St. Michael's school cafeteria with their local police officers.
"When somebody does something, you guys follow through. Thanks for providing that confidence," said beat facilitator Marina Alonso, who doubles as Hedges Elementary School's parent coordinator.
Unlike every other beat meeting I have attended in Back of the Yards so far, this one has a steady facilitator who has developed strong relationships with the people who live in the beat. Alonso also draws up each month's agenda and stays in contact with the police between meetings to make sure that community needs are being addressed.
This month the community also thanked the police for retaking control of St. Michael's gym, which had been overrun by gang members openly representing and trying to recruit. We could hear the excited shouts and dribbling coming from the gym while the meeting went on.
The feel of the meeting was very different from others I have attended. The police were engaged in the conversation, not just sitting there talking among themselves or looking anywhere but at the residents. There seemed to be real dialog between residents and officers, not just residents making requests or giving their complaints.
The police also seemed much less defensive and more interested in residents' perspective here than elsewhere. For example, near the end of the meeting a female officer present said, "The mothers I've dealt with are helpless. They don't know what their kids are doing. Ninety-nine percent of them are lovely people, but their kids are lost." She wanted to know what is being done to help and educate parents so they can better monitor their children's activities. "These kids are someone's kids. Is there any way someone can educate the parents?"
Oscar Contreras, who works with youth and with parents to prevent gang violence, told her about a parents' group now meeting at St. John of God, 51st & Elizabeth, every other Saturday. Mothers there support each other in their efforts to help their children stay out of trouble and leave gangs if they have already become involved.
"That's great," the officer responded.
After the meeting, Alonso told me that the attendance Thursday was lower than usual because they had parent workshops at Hedges. Many of those who did attend had been at school most of the day already. Their stamina was rewarded with a stack of Little Caesar's pizzas afterwards. During pizza time, Alonso carried her granddaughter over her shoulder and chatted with other moms and grandmoms present. She always makes herself informally after the meeting to pick up sensitive information people might not want to give out in public.
Both she and Contreras credited residents for their courage in stepping forward with information that led to the arrest in the Barrera murder.
"The community came together," Contreras noted. Apparently, someone at the press conference questioned the significance of one arrest in a city full of violent crime. To the naysayer, Contreras said, "It is a big deal. It brings closure."
It also increases the community's trust that the police will come through. During the winter, after the news reports about the killing had died down and before there was much evidence beyond what security cameras in the area had been able to capture, 9th district officer Eric Wier met with residents and told them he felt "ashamed" that the case had stalled, Contreras told me. Wier vowed to keep the case moving forward, and "he fulfilled his promise."
For more on Wier, see the Sun-Times article here.
"When somebody does something, you guys follow through. Thanks for providing that confidence," said beat facilitator Marina Alonso, who doubles as Hedges Elementary School's parent coordinator.
Unlike every other beat meeting I have attended in Back of the Yards so far, this one has a steady facilitator who has developed strong relationships with the people who live in the beat. Alonso also draws up each month's agenda and stays in contact with the police between meetings to make sure that community needs are being addressed.
This month the community also thanked the police for retaking control of St. Michael's gym, which had been overrun by gang members openly representing and trying to recruit. We could hear the excited shouts and dribbling coming from the gym while the meeting went on.
The feel of the meeting was very different from others I have attended. The police were engaged in the conversation, not just sitting there talking among themselves or looking anywhere but at the residents. There seemed to be real dialog between residents and officers, not just residents making requests or giving their complaints.
The police also seemed much less defensive and more interested in residents' perspective here than elsewhere. For example, near the end of the meeting a female officer present said, "The mothers I've dealt with are helpless. They don't know what their kids are doing. Ninety-nine percent of them are lovely people, but their kids are lost." She wanted to know what is being done to help and educate parents so they can better monitor their children's activities. "These kids are someone's kids. Is there any way someone can educate the parents?"
Oscar Contreras, who works with youth and with parents to prevent gang violence, told her about a parents' group now meeting at St. John of God, 51st & Elizabeth, every other Saturday. Mothers there support each other in their efforts to help their children stay out of trouble and leave gangs if they have already become involved.
"That's great," the officer responded.
After the meeting, Alonso told me that the attendance Thursday was lower than usual because they had parent workshops at Hedges. Many of those who did attend had been at school most of the day already. Their stamina was rewarded with a stack of Little Caesar's pizzas afterwards. During pizza time, Alonso carried her granddaughter over her shoulder and chatted with other moms and grandmoms present. She always makes herself informally after the meeting to pick up sensitive information people might not want to give out in public.
Both she and Contreras credited residents for their courage in stepping forward with information that led to the arrest in the Barrera murder.
"The community came together," Contreras noted. Apparently, someone at the press conference questioned the significance of one arrest in a city full of violent crime. To the naysayer, Contreras said, "It is a big deal. It brings closure."
It also increases the community's trust that the police will come through. During the winter, after the news reports about the killing had died down and before there was much evidence beyond what security cameras in the area had been able to capture, 9th district officer Eric Wier met with residents and told them he felt "ashamed" that the case had stalled, Contreras told me. Wier vowed to keep the case moving forward, and "he fulfilled his promise."
For more on Wier, see the Sun-Times article here.
Friday, March 28, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Police Officer Shot?
Following the journalist's two-source rule, I can say with some confidence that the police were out in force on Marshfield Avenue this afternoon, looking for a suspect in the shooting of a police officer.
The scary part is the suspect is someone I know. He's not currently living on the block, though.
I can't find any news stories about a shooting of a police officer today. Rumor has it the officer was shot in his own house, but I don't know where.
When there's more to say, you'll find it here.
The scary part is the suspect is someone I know. He's not currently living on the block, though.
I can't find any news stories about a shooting of a police officer today. Rumor has it the officer was shot in his own house, but I don't know where.
When there's more to say, you'll find it here.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
This Just In
In case you missed the update to the March 4 post, two clarifications:
1) The young man being chased by the police early Sunday morning was captured by police but not killed. He was apparently driving a stolen car around 6:30 a.m. when police started chasing him westward from 47th & Halsted. The car crashed at 47th and Wood. After the cops fired three shots, the driver got out and appeared to be ready to turn himself in, but then he jumped back in the car and managed to restart it. Police gave chase to 43rd and Paulina, where they caught him. No one else was injured.
2) Some inside poop the papers didn't give about the death of 18-year-old Jose Ignacio Garcia Barrera. My sources say he was shot at 48th and Seeley, then driven to where the police found him. They also say he was caught in a trap over a girl, drugs, or both.
In happier news, yesterday I was able to arrange for free tickets for a group of 20 or so to go to the Museum of Science and Industry over Chicago Public Schools spring break. Medicine Man is asking his Americorps buddies if a couple of them will help us chaperone. We should have up to four or five young people from Su Casa and the rest from here on Marshfield.
It seems like such a small effort in the face of all the heavy stuff going down here, but better to do the small step than none at all.
1) The young man being chased by the police early Sunday morning was captured by police but not killed. He was apparently driving a stolen car around 6:30 a.m. when police started chasing him westward from 47th & Halsted. The car crashed at 47th and Wood. After the cops fired three shots, the driver got out and appeared to be ready to turn himself in, but then he jumped back in the car and managed to restart it. Police gave chase to 43rd and Paulina, where they caught him. No one else was injured.
2) Some inside poop the papers didn't give about the death of 18-year-old Jose Ignacio Garcia Barrera. My sources say he was shot at 48th and Seeley, then driven to where the police found him. They also say he was caught in a trap over a girl, drugs, or both.
In happier news, yesterday I was able to arrange for free tickets for a group of 20 or so to go to the Museum of Science and Industry over Chicago Public Schools spring break. Medicine Man is asking his Americorps buddies if a couple of them will help us chaperone. We should have up to four or five young people from Su Casa and the rest from here on Marshfield.
It seems like such a small effort in the face of all the heavy stuff going down here, but better to do the small step than none at all.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
"A Tough, Tough Weekend"
That's what Chicago Public Schools CEO Arne Duncan had to say about all the shooting going on last weekend, some of which took place here in Back of the Yards. This Chicago Tribune story mentioned three local victims:
Jose Garcia, 18, shot in the chest while sitting in a parked car on the 4900 block of South Hoyne on Saturday night.
Two other neighborhood young people who were wounded: a 14-year-old who goes to school at Hamline and a 16-year-old student at Richards.
I'm not sure about the ones that didn't make the news, but if I understood correctly, there was a collection at church on Sunday to send the body of another slain youngster back to Mexico. I thought this kid was killed by a speeding police car, but I'm not sure I understood everything correctly during announcements.
UPDATED March 6: The young man being chased by the police was captured but not killed. The collection at church was for Jose Garcia's body to be sent to Mexico for burial.
Someone I spoke with today counted five shootings here in the area in recent days, including his own very young cousin, who was injured by bullets going through a car window. It sounds like he will be OK.
Between conversations with NHS board members, folks at Holy Cross and staff at Big Picture, here's what I've learned about why this is happening. Essentially, one gang whose territory lies east of Ashland is feeling the heat from the three or four other gangs surrounding them. I heard today that four or five of the east of Ashland gang's members have been killed in the last five months or so.
"They're getting that 18th street mentality now--kill or be killed," said one of my sources. I am not sure the extent to which that is from networking or because guys from 18th Street are physically moving down here--we are getting folks who have been displaced by rising rents and property taxes in Pilsen. While I have raved in previous posts about the great new neighbors I'm getting thanks to displacement, perhaps others haven't been so lucky.
At any rate, the beleaguered gang is out for revenge. On Sunday night about 7 p.m., I walked past five or six police cars in about three blocks, starting at 48th and Ashland. The sirens went on for hours afterwards.
Some neighborhood observers are already betting it will be a long, deadly summer.
Jose Garcia, 18, shot in the chest while sitting in a parked car on the 4900 block of South Hoyne on Saturday night.
Two other neighborhood young people who were wounded: a 14-year-old who goes to school at Hamline and a 16-year-old student at Richards.
I'm not sure about the ones that didn't make the news, but if I understood correctly, there was a collection at church on Sunday to send the body of another slain youngster back to Mexico. I thought this kid was killed by a speeding police car, but I'm not sure I understood everything correctly during announcements.
UPDATED March 6: The young man being chased by the police was captured but not killed. The collection at church was for Jose Garcia's body to be sent to Mexico for burial.
Someone I spoke with today counted five shootings here in the area in recent days, including his own very young cousin, who was injured by bullets going through a car window. It sounds like he will be OK.
Between conversations with NHS board members, folks at Holy Cross and staff at Big Picture, here's what I've learned about why this is happening. Essentially, one gang whose territory lies east of Ashland is feeling the heat from the three or four other gangs surrounding them. I heard today that four or five of the east of Ashland gang's members have been killed in the last five months or so.
"They're getting that 18th street mentality now--kill or be killed," said one of my sources. I am not sure the extent to which that is from networking or because guys from 18th Street are physically moving down here--we are getting folks who have been displaced by rising rents and property taxes in Pilsen. While I have raved in previous posts about the great new neighbors I'm getting thanks to displacement, perhaps others haven't been so lucky.
At any rate, the beleaguered gang is out for revenge. On Sunday night about 7 p.m., I walked past five or six police cars in about three blocks, starting at 48th and Ashland. The sirens went on for hours afterwards.
Some neighborhood observers are already betting it will be a long, deadly summer.
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