Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Uptown Getting Five New Police Cameras in Crime Hot Spots

By Mina Bloom | July 9, 2015 2:59pm
 A Chicago Police blue-light security camera. (File photo).
A Chicago Police blue-light security camera. (File photo).
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Devlin Brown

UPTOWN — Five new police cameras will soon be installed throughout the 46th Ward, according to Caitlin McElroy, a staffer with Ald. James Cappleman's office.

Cappleman is using the ward's menu funds to buy the cameras, which will be placed in crime hot spots.

Sgt. Jason Clark with the Town Hall District said at a recent CAPS meeting that officers were  determining the locations for the cameras using data such as the number of 911 calls.

Clark listed Malden and Sunnyside avenues, Leland Avenue and Malden Street, Sheridan Road and Agatite Avenue and Hazel Street and Sunnyside Avenue as possible locations — but the locations of the cameras had yet to be finalized, McElroy said.

She said Cappleman's office and the Town Hall District were aiming to finalize the locations soon and install the cameras within the next couple of months. 

This year is shaping up to be one of the most violent years in recent memory for the North Side neighborhood, according to shooting data obtained and analyzed by DNAinfo Chicago.

Uptown is on pace for 26 shootings this year, which would be the most since Cappleman first took office in 2011.

There have been a total of seven shooting deaths so far this year — the highest number in the last five years.

Over the last 30 days, there have been nine aggravated assaults and batteries in Uptown police beat 1914. That's compared to a total of two for the same time last year, according to Clark.

Clark added that all major and minor crimes were down in the beat just over 13 percent compared to this time last year.

For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here: