Residents of Chicago's South Loop tell police they're fed up with vagrancy and crime
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Fed up and looking for a solution, residents of the South Loop sounded off to Chicago Police Wednesday night.
CBS News Chicago first reported earlier this week how those living in the South Loop say aggressive loitering has gotten out of control in the area of Wabash Avenue and Roosevelt Road. Residents are now demanding more action to make their community safer.
The problems with which residents are taking issue are not limited to loitering and street harassment. Residents told police they have seen neighbors get mugged and have had their homes broken into,
Meanwhile on Wednesday morning, neighbors said, vehicles were vandalized for far from the first time. Tiffani Faison woke up to find her car windows broken, and glass littering the curb once again.
"It feels like were being targeted," said Faison.
It turned out more than a half dozen other vehicles on Calumet Avenue were hit too. But the concerns are bigger than just vandalism.
"We had a neighbor get robbed in her garage not that long ago a little bit south—a couple of blocks," said Faison. "We've all been to alerted to be careful when we're going inside of our garage."
Those living in the South Loop want Chicago Police to step up efforts throughout the entire neighborhood—but especially trouble spots like Roosevelt Road and Wabash Avenue, near the busy Chicago Transit Authority Red Line stop.
"We're fed up," a man said at a Chicago Police CAPS meeting. "We've had enough."
The Central (1st) Chicago Police Dstrict held the community meeting Wednesday night at Capital One Café on State Street downtown. Residents filled the room, yet Capital One Bank refused to let CBS News Chicago's cameras inside.
The group told officers and 34th Ward residents that the loitering, and the wide-open illegal drug sales near the Roosevelt Red Line are all out of control.
"There has been a gentleman sleeping on the cooler in front of Dunkin Donuts for three months. Where is everybody?" a man said at the meeting. "There's been gangs, or whatever you want to call them, teenagers, in front of Jewels. Where is everybody?"
Marc Katz came out hoping to get solutions.
"There are problems in the South Loop," he said. "Over the last several years, I've seen more incidents of crime and loitering than I have when I first moved here."
While Roosevelt Road is the corridor most used, Katz points out the problems have spread through the entire South Loop—like the break-ins that targeted parked vehicles on Calumet Avenue, and a smash-and-grab Wednesday morning at yet another South Loop location, namely a boutique at 66 E. 21st St.
"All the parks at night have homeless people sleeping there. The panhandling gets a little rough even sometimes," he said, "and you know, we have a migrant issue for sure."
Officers said they have heard the cries, and the issues are on the CPD's radar.
"I hope that they listened," said Katz. "You know, I think that they were surprised that this many people showed up."
Police told residents as they work on the problem, they want people to keep calling 911 for every incident. But police also advised that neighbors can and should unite on building a stronger neighborhood watch program.
The CPD insisted that such programs can make a difference.