Lack of resources an issue in Hanover Park's fight against gangs
Second of two parts
Walk certain streets of Hanover Park in the wake of recent violence and you'll hear from neighbors scared to walk their dogs or let their children play in the front yard.
Gangs can terrorize communities and paralyze residents with fear.
As Hanover Park works to restore safety, it does so with a gang unit that consists of only three officers. The department is at the low end of officers per thousand residents, and at the high end of calls for service that each officer must handle.
A Hanover Park officer, for example, has to handle three times as many calls in a year as an officer in Hoffman Estates, which had the most staffing of the nine municipalities surveyed.
Police Chief Ron Moser, now the acting village manager, has been steadfast in his call for additional officers. And while Moser and Mayor Rod Craig said they are taking steps to increase police staffing, Hanover Park at this point doesn't have the financial resources that many communities do to fight gangs.
Despite those hurdles, the situation could be worse.
Today's gang problem in the Northwest suburbs is significantly improved from the late 1980s and early 1990s, law enforcement officials say.
In Elgin, for example, "we used to have multiple shootings happening every week where people were hit," said Sgt. Bill Wolf, commander of that city's Special Investigations Division. "We've progressed to a point where that's a really big deal now."
Law enforcement officials say gang violence also is down in Hanover Park compared to years ago, though attention generated by four high-profile homicides in recent weeks would seem to indicate the opposite.
Crime is at its lowest level since statistics were first tracked in 1974. Interim Police Chief David Webb said that in 2008, there were 653 "part one" crimes, which encompass serious offenses including murder, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault and battery, and criminal sexual assault.
Crime has risen slightly this year. Through May, Hanover Park reported 252 part one crimes, a 5.8 percent increase from 238 in the same five-month period in 2008.
In the last decade, gang shootings peaked at 10 in 2002. Halfway through 2009, the number stands at three, including one fatality. Gang graffiti is also down. Through June 16, there were 38 reported incidents. That's a decline from last year (120 incidents) and 2007 (173 incidents).
Most of the violence has been directed at gang members themselves, and not innocent bystanders.
Webb is quick to point out that the department had someone in custody for most of the homicides, shootings and stabbings within 72 hours. The murder of 16-year-old Jesus Sanchez on May 23 remains unsolved, and police haven't named a suspect in the June 29 shooting.
Still, budget cuts forced the department to eliminate all crime prevention programs, including neighborhood watch, years ago. And statistics show that staffing in Hanover Park, with 54 sworn officers serving nearly 40,000 people, ranked on the low end of officers-per-1,000 residents. Each officer responds to a high number of average annual calls for service.
The department's gang unit, the Special Operations Group, comprises Sgt. Joe Ciancio and two officers.
Despite Hanover Park's efforts to recruit bilingual officers, Webb said only two or three speak fluent Spanish and a few more speak Polish. The village's Hispanic population is about 27 percent. In neighboring Elgin, where 34 percent of the 100,000-plus people are Hispanic, the department employs 15 Spanish-speaking officers.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=304760">Hanover Park police see upswing in violence as result of gang turf battle<span class="date">[7/5/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <p class="factboxheadblack">How police fight gangs</p> <p class="News">Here's a look at some of the tactics used by Hanover Park and how they compare with some of those used by Elgin and Mundelein, two other communities with significant gang presence.</p> <p class="breakhead">Hanover Park methods</p> <p class="News">• Zero tolerance: Hanover Park police might let an underage teen smoking off with a warning, but not so if he's in a gang. </p> <p class="News">• Intelligence: The department tracks gang members and shares information with other agencies through the LEADS computer system.</p> <p class="News">• Nuisance abatement: Property owners can be issued hefty fines for multiple incidents like loud music.</p> <p class="News">• Trespass agreements: If known troublemakers banned from properties trespass, police are authorized to arrest them on site without contacting property owners.</p> <p class="News">• Summer Mobile Field Force: Neighboring departments this summer contribute two officers to the unit, which floods problem areas with a heightened police presence.</p> <p class="News">• Extra patrols: Patrol units target specific neighborhoods, including Lake Street and Walnut Avenue, and the area southwest of Irving Park and Barrington roads.</p> <p class="News">• Earlier curfew: On July 2, the village board voted to establish curfew hours between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day for minors under 17 years old, an hour earlier than previously on Friday and Saturday.</p> <p class="breakhead">Elgin methods</p> <p class="News">• Housing ordinance: Elgin property owners require tenants to sign crime-free rental agreements with their tenants, which allows for easy evictions.</p> <p class="News">• U-46 partnership: When a teacher first notices a student showing signs of gang affiliation behavior, the school notifies police, who set up a meeting with the kid's parents. </p> <p class="News">"It's been very effective for us to target a kid before he gets so ingrained in a gang that it's too late," Lt. Bill Wolf said. "It's very difficult to reform a kid after he's deeply involved."</p> <p class="News">• Targeting leadership: Arresting members in leadership roles leaves gangs disorganized.</p> <p class="breakhead">Mundelein methods</p> <p class="News">• Working together: Because town boundaries mean nothing to gangs, the department works closely with the Lake County Gang Task Force, police Chief Ray Rose said. Every community contributes officers to the task force, which meets monthly to share intelligence.</p> <p class="News">• Festivals: The task force assistance at festivals. "We need people there to approach known gang members and say, 'We know you're here and we're watching you,'" Rose said. "And they have to wear their hats straight and turn their shirts inside out if their gang colors are worn."</p> <p class="News">• Consistency: Rose regularly meets with judges, state's attorneys and probation officers on gang cases so everyone knows to "deal harshly in the matter."</p> <p class="News">• Community policing: Officers are assigned to neighborhoods, and hold community meetings to talk about problems and encourage residents to call for service.</p> <p class="News">• Graffiti response: Police immediately hold a meeting with residents once graffiti starts showing up in a neighborhood.</p>