New Neighborhood Watch Sparked by Frustrated Neighbors

Roscoe Village resident Pam got involved with community policing when burglars broke into her home while her family was asleep, stole her car keys, loaded up her car with her valuables, and then drove off in her car.

Her vehicle was later found on the South Side and recovered, but recovering her piece of mind after her home invasion is taking some work.

“I’m a beat facilitator for 1921,” Pam said, introducing herself to a room of almost 75 neighbors at the first Roscoe Village Community Watch meeting Thursday night. Pam later asked Patch not reveal her last name after the unnerving incident. 

“I just joined in January after being a victim of a burglary in my home when my family was sleeping,” she continued. “I’m just trying to get involved, and I’ve learned a lot about this. This has been a very good and informative way moving forward.”

Organized by the community group Roscoe Village Neighbors, the new community watch program drew plenty of concerned residents to Audubon Elementary School at 3500 N. Hoyne Ave. The meeting had neighbors asking what they can do to combat burglaries, armed robberies, graffiti and a recent string of car thefts.

"It’s a lot of perception, which is good and bad. It can scare you, but I want it to educate you."

RVN Board Member Alison Kramme says she’s hoping to get the community involved in the new neighborhood watch program in one of three ways. The first is simply getting email updates with developing information, the second is joining a steering committee, and the third is becoming a block captain to unite neighbors on any given block.

It’s a structure they hope will help curb crime in the village, something some residents say they think has to do with Police District 19 merging with District 23 and relocating headquarters to Lake View.

“We’ve noticed as a community that since the 19th District moved from Western and Belmont over to Addison and Halsted, there’s at least a perception that crime is increasing,” Kramme said. “… Me personally, I was quite concerned when on Jan. 10 where there was that high-speed chase that just happened to end in Roscoe Village. There was a lot of confusion as to what was going on.”

Chicago Police Sgt. Jason Clark was on hand and spoke the crowd during a majority of the meeting. He said, yes, it’s clear there’s a larger police presence around the district station in Lake View because police are often coming and going from there.

But as he’s said in the past, Clark reiterated that Roscoe Village is a “land of the haves,” meaning it’s an affluent area with things thieves are looking to steal.

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He shared simple tips with residents like making sure to lock doors to deter burglars, and to always call 911 to voice complaints, as the more calls a station gets on a particular issue, more the likely they are to take action.

“There are steps we can do now to better prepare ourselves,” Clark said. “… Crime is down over here. A lot of it is publicized, we have a lot of social media, and if it’s kind of a nasty crime, word spreads that much quicker. It’s a lot of perception, which is good and bad. It can scare you, but I want it to educate you.”

Those interested in being a part of the neighborhood watch program can get more information from RVN by emailing them at roscoevillageneighbors@gmail.com.

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Editor's Note: Pam's last name was pulled from this article when police said she began recieving unnerving phone calls from unkown readers. Police are investigating.