This from the Herald Editorial Board.
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One suburb's relentless fight against violence
Daily Herald Editorial Board
Published: 6/10/2010 12:01 AM
Burying one's head in the sand is never a sensible course of action. And neither is assault and retreat.
Hanover Park, in reacting to four murders inside two weeks just a year ago, instead set forth to establish a major shift in the way it polices its citizenry in order to establish greater trust, a greater intelligence network and better contact with kids who could choose the wrong path.
What it all boils down to is that Hanover Park police have pledged to get to know the people in the community.
Village President Rodney Craig says things have quieted down in the last year, something he attributes in part to the change in policing strategies.
It may be too early to tell whether it's working. Violent crime has a habit of occurring in waves and peaking with the temperature. But Hanover Park philosophically is on the right track.
Between May 23 and June 6 last year, four murders rocked the village. Violent crime was nothing new to Hanover Park. But not on this level. Not all at once.
Jesus Sanchez, 16, was shot to death while walking home from a park where he'd been playing soccer. Police believe it was a gang killing. No arrests have been made in that case. Norma Favela, 31, was beaten to death. She was pregnant. Her boyfriend was charged. Pamela Sue Howat, 51, was stabbed to death. Police arrested a former co-worker she'd dated briefly. Diontae Roberts, 23, was stabbed to death at a party. Police made an arrest. They say it was another gang crime.
It's not easy to anticipate or prevent homicides like Norma's or Pamela's.
It's not easy to prevent gang homicides either. But it is possible to make a dent in gang crime by tracking gang members, getting to know them and those they would recruit. And to be a visible and trusted member of the community.
Hanover Park has established an Area Response Team in which cops become part of their beats - not just reacting to crime but dealing with its causes, from social issues to property upkeep. The village has added new police officers and is committed to hiring more. It provides e-mail alerts on crime to interested residents. And it has a safe homes program in which officers and a social worker visit the homes of kids who might be associating with gangs.
"We're trying to foster a relationship beyond the traditional police approach of writing a report, issuing a ticket and leaving," Police Chief Tom Cortese told Daily Herald reporter Kimberly Pohl. "We're interacting with the community."
That daily interaction is what builds trust and makes it more likely that police will be tipped to criminal activity by the vast majority of residents who just want a peaceful place to live.
It's a policy that has paid dividends elsewhere. Elgin and Mundelein use similar programs; so has Rolling Meadows.
Elgin's new police chief, Jeff Swoboda, was a member of the fledgling Resident Officer Program of Elgin (ROPE) 15 years ago when the city saw two dozen homicides in one year.
He was promoted to chief, in part, on the strength of his ongoing commitment to that program. He and ROPE officers since him have lived in and operated out of city-owned houses in troubled neighborhoods.
Many of the programs Hanover Park has started mirror what Elgin has employed for years. Elgin still has its share of crime problems, but the murder rate is down to about three per year.
"(ROPE) was a catalyst for the neighborhoods," Swoboda said. "It takes the ROPE officer working with motivated residents to have lasting change. We could go into a neighborhood and make a bunch of arrests, but that wouldn't solve anything."
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
A year after a string of murders, Hanover Park works toward change
I wanted to share this article from the Daily Herald:
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A year after a string of murders, Hanover Park works toward change
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=386111
By Kimberly Pohl | Daily Herald Staff
A year has passed since a cloud of despair blanketed Hanover Park.
Neighbors closed blinds and fearful parents refused to let their children play outside after seeing police officers drape yet another front yard with yellow crime scene tape.
In a two-week span from May 23 to June 6, four murders shook the village and left its leaders speechless. Several area police departments and Illinois State Police rerouted manpower to assist Hanover Park, and residents looking for answers jammed into gymnasiums for gang awareness forums.
"It couldn't have been a more horrendous time," Mayor Rod Craig said. "It was a nightmare."
However, Craig said that since the spike in violent crime, which also included multiple nonfatal shootings and stabbings in spring 2009, the cloud has lifted. The village is enjoying a period of relative quiet Craig attributes to a number of changes, including a shift in policing strategies.
Among them is a new community policing initiative known as Area Response Team.
Instead of just patrolling neighborhoods, Deputy Police Chief Tom Cortese said, officers now immerse themselves in their beats and are responsible for seeing problems through to the end, from social service to code enforcement issues.
"We're trying to foster a relationship beyond the traditional police approach of writing a report, issuing a ticket and leaving," Cortese said. "We're interacting with the community."
The hope is that people will be more likely to come forward when they know of a crime that has or is about to take place. Cortese said police are having success in some areas, though there's still reluctance in others largely due to language barriers.
Unfortunately, nobody has come forward with information leading to Jesus Sanchez's killer. The 16-year-old was gunned down May 23, 2009, while walking home from playing soccer in a nearby park. Police believe the murder was gang-related, and said an active investigation continues.
Quick arrests were made after the killing of Norma Favela, 31, a pregnant mother police say was beaten to death by her boyfriend, and Pamela Sue Howat, 51, who police say was stabbed by a former co-worker she briefly dated. And charges came within hours of 23-year-old Diontae Roberts dying in a gang-related stabbing at a party.
All three cases are pending in Cook and DuPage County courts.
Another key change is the size of the village's police force.
Since the slayings, Hanover Park has added three sworn police officers, bringing its total to 57. This year's budget includes funding for four more officers.
Craig tapped former Police Chief Ron Moser as village manager, and department veteran David Webb stepped in as the new chief. And village trustees approved building a much larger police station later this year to relieve cramped headquarters.
Police now host public meetings at village hall and e-mail news to anyone who signs up for alerts.
The department also has a safe homes program in which officers and a social worker visit the homes of at-risk kids who might be associating with gangs. They ask parents' permission to search a child's room for evidence of gang activity and determine how to deal with the situation.
About 10 such searches have been conducted since January. Cortese said the "success rate is too early to say."
In addition, the department resurrected its neighborhood watch program, which had been phased out along with other crime prevention initiatives because of budget woes and a lack of personnel. More than 75 block captains signed up to host meetings, organize block parties and act as liaisons with police.
Jenny Konstanzer, a stay-at-home mom to four children and a co-captain with her husband, said you can never have too many sets of eyes on the lookout. She also believes that consistently seeing the same four officers assigned to her neighborhood has made people more comfortable with police.
"We're trying to let people know that our police department is here to help us, not hurt us," Konstanzer said. "We've come a long way in a year."
Craig said he's hopeful the quiet trend will continue as a sense of community grows.
"Unfortunately, domestic violence hasn't gone away and crazy people will still do crazy things," he said. "But we have good families and hard workers who want to improve the quality of life here."
----------------------------------------
A year after a string of murders, Hanover Park works toward change
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=386111
By Kimberly Pohl | Daily Herald Staff
A year has passed since a cloud of despair blanketed Hanover Park.
Neighbors closed blinds and fearful parents refused to let their children play outside after seeing police officers drape yet another front yard with yellow crime scene tape.
In a two-week span from May 23 to June 6, four murders shook the village and left its leaders speechless. Several area police departments and Illinois State Police rerouted manpower to assist Hanover Park, and residents looking for answers jammed into gymnasiums for gang awareness forums.
"It couldn't have been a more horrendous time," Mayor Rod Craig said. "It was a nightmare."
However, Craig said that since the spike in violent crime, which also included multiple nonfatal shootings and stabbings in spring 2009, the cloud has lifted. The village is enjoying a period of relative quiet Craig attributes to a number of changes, including a shift in policing strategies.
Among them is a new community policing initiative known as Area Response Team.
Instead of just patrolling neighborhoods, Deputy Police Chief Tom Cortese said, officers now immerse themselves in their beats and are responsible for seeing problems through to the end, from social service to code enforcement issues.
"We're trying to foster a relationship beyond the traditional police approach of writing a report, issuing a ticket and leaving," Cortese said. "We're interacting with the community."
The hope is that people will be more likely to come forward when they know of a crime that has or is about to take place. Cortese said police are having success in some areas, though there's still reluctance in others largely due to language barriers.
Unfortunately, nobody has come forward with information leading to Jesus Sanchez's killer. The 16-year-old was gunned down May 23, 2009, while walking home from playing soccer in a nearby park. Police believe the murder was gang-related, and said an active investigation continues.
Quick arrests were made after the killing of Norma Favela, 31, a pregnant mother police say was beaten to death by her boyfriend, and Pamela Sue Howat, 51, who police say was stabbed by a former co-worker she briefly dated. And charges came within hours of 23-year-old Diontae Roberts dying in a gang-related stabbing at a party.
All three cases are pending in Cook and DuPage County courts.
Another key change is the size of the village's police force.
Since the slayings, Hanover Park has added three sworn police officers, bringing its total to 57. This year's budget includes funding for four more officers.
Craig tapped former Police Chief Ron Moser as village manager, and department veteran David Webb stepped in as the new chief. And village trustees approved building a much larger police station later this year to relieve cramped headquarters.
Police now host public meetings at village hall and e-mail news to anyone who signs up for alerts.
The department also has a safe homes program in which officers and a social worker visit the homes of at-risk kids who might be associating with gangs. They ask parents' permission to search a child's room for evidence of gang activity and determine how to deal with the situation.
About 10 such searches have been conducted since January. Cortese said the "success rate is too early to say."
In addition, the department resurrected its neighborhood watch program, which had been phased out along with other crime prevention initiatives because of budget woes and a lack of personnel. More than 75 block captains signed up to host meetings, organize block parties and act as liaisons with police.
Jenny Konstanzer, a stay-at-home mom to four children and a co-captain with her husband, said you can never have too many sets of eyes on the lookout. She also believes that consistently seeing the same four officers assigned to her neighborhood has made people more comfortable with police.
"We're trying to let people know that our police department is here to help us, not hurt us," Konstanzer said. "We've come a long way in a year."
Craig said he's hopeful the quiet trend will continue as a sense of community grows.
"Unfortunately, domestic violence hasn't gone away and crazy people will still do crazy things," he said. "But we have good families and hard workers who want to improve the quality of life here."
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