Grand Crossing District police hold weekly meetings with community to help solve crimes -- and it's working
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In the Grand Crossing (3rd) District, police officers are holding weekly meetings to tell the community about crimes with the goal of solving them.
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reported Friday, more than 50 people living and working in the South Side police district attended the most recent "Together We Can" meeting on Zoom and in person at the Burnham at Woodlawn Park, 6134 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
The police district includes the Grand Crossing, Park Manor, Woodlawn, and West Woodlawn neighborhoods, most of the South Shore neighborhood, and all of Jackson Park – which extends north to 56th Street in Hyde Park.
Officers tell everyone about the crimes that have happened in the community in the past seven days.
"You get that detailed information where people can sit down and actually analyze what they hear, and then reference that to what they see through their daily activities in and around their communities," said Grand Crossing resident Matthew Brandon.
From March 31 to April 6, there have been three shootings in Grand Crossing, with one arrest.
Carjackings and robberies are also discussed in detail, along with exact locations for neighborhood hotspots.
"If there's been a homicide there, a shooting there, we let the community know the church, along with the police officers, are there to help them," said Pastor Alonzo Nichols, whose church is in Grand Crossing.
Grand Crossing police District Cmdr. Roderick S. Watson started the "Together We Can" weekly meetings about a year and a half ago. He says they have been critical in solving crimes - among them carjackings.
He said police were able to arrest an entire carjacking ring with information they received through the community meetings.
"We were actually able to arrest a particular crew of guys that were actually a part of that," Watson said.
Chicago Police crime data from 2021 to 2022 shows while some parts of the city have seen huge crime increases, crime is up 8 percent in the Grand Crossing District - compared to an increase of about 29 percent citywide.
The outreach doesn't end with community meetings. Police joined members of Operation Neighborhood Safety, who pumped gas for customers at a gas station targeted by carjackers. They also engage young people from a nearby school, where there have been recent fights among students.
"The goal here is to actually tear down those walls that have been dividing the police and community over years, and to show that we are one in this together," Watson said.
"You often hear people say, 'Oh, it used to be like this. It's not going to be like that anymore," said Jennifer Edwards, who lives in the area. "But we can make it a new era - a new type of community - where we all connect."
The Gresham (6th) District - which includes the Auburn Gresham and Chatham communities – just started holding weekly meetings with the community two weeks ago. The West Side's Harrison (11th) District – which includes Humboldt Park, West Humboldt Park, East and West Garfield Park, and parts of North Lawndale – will start similar meetings in the next few weeks.