HUMBOLDT PARK — Violent crime in Humboldt Park in 2016, like in much of the city, is reaching levels unseen for four or five years.
It's no secret that investigative stops have also dipped dramatically, but that's not the only reason why neighborhoods are seeing a rise in violence, according to Ald. Roberto Maldonado (26th).
There has been near constant turnover in each of the police districts that cover parts of Maldonado's 26th Ward, the majority of which is Humboldt Park, making it difficult for police to focus on local issues and learn the dynamics of the ward, he said.
"I'm frustrated with what's going on because I see too many leaders being changed too frequently," the alderman said after an emergency community meeting he hosted last week to address crime.
Turnover at the commander level has been so frequent Maldonado had difficulty remembering exactly how many commanders each of the four districts that cover his ward have had during his time as alderman.
"I have had three commanders that I have worked with that I can remember in the [Grand Central District]. I have seen four commanders at least in [Shakespeare] and I have seen three commanders in the [Near West District] and three commanders or maybe four" in the Harrison District, Maldonado said. "That is frustrating to not be able to establish a relationship and work on issues with them."
If history is any indication, there could be more changes coming at the commander level after the appointment of new police Supt. Eddie Johnson.
"I know that every time there is a new superintendent, new leadership comes," Maldonado said. "I’m sure that Johnson has a few names that he wants to promote to commanders at the expense of others, but typically when a commander is appointed that means the sitting commander goes someplace else higher up.”
Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said the superintendent has not yet made any command announcement.
Johnson "agrees that continuity in district leadership is very important to foster positive relationships but also wants to ensure we have the right people in the right places to rebuild the frayed trust with communities and help us further reduce violence," Gugliemi said Friday.
Johnson and his command staff are committed to supporting district commanders and building a system to create smooth leadership transitions when district commanders are promoted to new positions, Gugliemi said.
Maldonado met with the new superintendent two weeks ago and expressed his outrage over a lack of police strategies and allocation of resources that the alderman said are critical to stop the surge of violence in the ward and throughout the city.
That surge in violence is one that the alderman said Humboldt Park hasn't seen in the past five years.
There were 217 shootings in 2009 and 234 in 2010. Since then the were 171 in both 2011 and 2012, 137 in 2013 and 183 in 2014 and 2015.
So far this year there have been 68 shootings and 10 homicides in the Humboldt Park community area.
Maldonado held two emergency community meetings in the past two weeks after a particularly violent 72 hours in the neighborhood with multiple shootings and a homicide.
The alderman has begun holding public meetings with district commanders to stem the violence while holding those commanders accountable.
"What I can do is call upon those who are called upon to serve and protect us and challenge them as to what it is that they are going to do with the different problems crime-related that are presented to us," Maldonado said. "Otherwise, short of that I will be the one with brass and with a gun traveling my ward."
Those commanders Maldonado is referring to are all relatively new to their districts. All three who have faced public questioning at community meetings this month have been in charge for less than a year.
During a meeting to address crime in the Grand Central District, the alderman questioned Cmdr. Anthony Escamilla on what he plans to do.
Escamilla has been the commander in the district for less than five months.
Two weeks ago during a similar meeting Maldonado questioned Fabian Saldana, acting commander of the Shakespeare District, how he was going to handle the crime surge.
Saldana took over the district after Cmdr. Marc Buslik was tapped to serve as a go-to person for federal officials conducting a probe of the police department.
"I just got to the ... district mid-January and I've been here 2½, 3 months now," Saldana said during a meeting earlier this month. "There is a spike in shootings and other crimes as the alderman eloquently put it.”
Near West Cmdr. Edward Kulbida, who was at the same meeting as Saldana, is a veteran of the department, but has been in command of the district since just last April.
Kulbida was honored for his outstanding service after being shot in his head and returning to work last May.
Maldonado has been putting pressure on the commanders publicly to address the spike with concrete plans.
He also wants the commanders to push their officers to start making more stops in light of reports that stops are down by 90 percent across the department.
"I hope that police officers will start doing the job that they are supposed to do, go after the bad guys. There's more than enough out there," Maldonado said. "But to decide that you don’t want to do your job because you don’t like the way you are being treated as a group, department wise, that’s wrong."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
