Hate Crime Task Force

Community Leaders, Local Elected Officials and Police Supt. Hillard Celebrate a 50% Reduction in Hate Crimes in Lakeview and North Center Communities

Standing side by side with Supt. Hillard, Community Leaders Announced Expansions to a Unique Late-Night Bike Patrol Geared at Reducing Hate Crimes: Bikes Now Patrol1ing until 1:30am.

A diverse group of religious and community leaders from the Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC) and allied organizations stood side by side with Police Superintendent Terry Hillard and other prominent public officials to celebrate a 50% reduction in hate crimes in Lakeview and North Center and a successful first year of a unique late-night bike patrol.

LAC Leaders also announced that they had secured Hillard’s commitment to extend the hours of the patrol until 1:30am, to expand the project to the 19^th district (initially it was operating only in the 23^rd District), to make the pilot project a permanent program and to work with LAC and other organizations around diversity training issues.

The Lakeview Action Coalition released a study in March 2000 that documented the largest, densest pattern of hate crimes concentrated in Chicago as existing in East Lakeview. Most of the crimes are batteries and assaults committed in public places between 8:30 pm and 4:30 am. The incidents typically target gays and lesbians, African-Americans and Jews.

After the release of the study, LAC’s Hate Crimes Task Force worked to gather broad community support for a pilot project modeled on successful late night bike patrols in other cities. At a May 2000 rally of over 500 people, Superintendent Hillard agreed to a limited pilot-project with bike patrol operating until midnight. LAC vowed to revisit the issue after one year to gauge the success of the program and work to expand it if it proved effective.

After a promising first full year of the pilot project, Lakeview and North Center experienced a 50% reduction of hate crimes as the reported numbers in 2000 dropped to 11 from 22 in 1999. Just as importantly, the project has helped to educate and involve the community.

LAC leader and host of the press conference, Rabbi Michael Siegel of Anshe Emet Synagogue, acknowledged that beyond the numbers, the East Lakeview Pilot Project has strengthened Lakeview’s community and drawn diverse constituencies closer together by responding to a common issue in hate crimes. "In Hebrew, the word for response is Teshuvah. It also means turning. The fact is that when we truly respond to an issue we have to stop and turn around. In the case of Lakeview, the good work of the Lakeview Action Coalition has helped a community give a Teshuvah, a response by helping us make Teshuvah turn and face one another. The result is a community whose residence understand each other better, communicate with each other better and care for each other more because we have turned to face one another and respond to our challenges as well."

Members also urged caution about drawing too many conclusions from the first year. LAC President and Co-Chair of the Hate Crimes Task Force, Rick Ingram, called on the Chicago Police Department and the Lakeview community to continue to work to reduce hate crimes and strengthen community in Lakeview and North Center. "Let’s be clear: One year does not make a trend. It is a great start, but now is the time to build on this success and secure it for the future. We must remain vigilant, because the numbers are still too high. Yes, we've gone from 22 reported hate crimes in 1999 to 11 reported crimes in 2000. But what these numbers fail to show is the other 75% of hate crimes that go unreported."

Superintendent Hillard agreed to meet again with LAC in the Fall 2001 to continue to assess the project. LAC leaders say they will use that meeting to continue to urge a 4:30am stop time for the bike patrol.

Prior to the implementation of the project in May 2000, the Chicago Police Department did not provide foot patrol after 10:00 p.m. on weekdays and provided no officers on foot on weekends in East Lakeview, which has heavy pedestrian traffic at night. The bike patrol has provided a visible, interactive and mobile deterrent to crime, LAC leaders said.

Local elected officials who attended the public meeting to show their support for the expansion and to celebrate the success of the program to date included State Senator John Cullerton (6^th), State Representatives Sara Feigenholtz (12th), State Representative Larry McKeon (34th), Alderman Bernard Hansen (44^th) and staff members from Mayor Daley’s office, Alderman Helen Shiller’s office and County Commissioner Mike Quigley’s office

Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC) is a multi-issue community organization made up of 38 religious congregations, social service agencies, banks and other organizations in the Lakeview and North Center neighborhoods. LAC enables its members to act on their values in public life by organizing around important issues and by training and developing leaders.

In the spring of 1999, LAC convened a Hate Crimes Task Force to develop multiple strategies to prevent hate crimes. The Task Force includes leaders of Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach (AGLO), Broadway United Methodist Church, the Counseling Center of Lakeview, Holy Covenant United Methodist Church, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Horizons Community Services, Inter-American Magnet School, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Second Unitarian Church, St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, The Night Ministry, and Wellington Ave. United Church of Christ. Two Task Force members have been victims of hate crimes in Lakeview.

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