BUCKTOWN — A volunteer-led group held two Bucktown neighborhood watches over the weekend with varying success.
A group of five was not enough to patrol part of Bucktown on Saturday night, so a positive loitering event organized and run by volunteers was halted around 11 p.m., an hour after it started.
On Friday about 15 residents turned out and walked from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. while wearing reflective vests and carrying flashlights, according to the group's leader Steve Jensen.
"With [police] being understaffed, we are a temporary force multiplier," said Jensen, president of the Bucktown Community Organization and a volunteer administrator for a Bucktown Neighborhood Watch Facebook group.
Using an online form to sign up volunteers, Jensen put the patrols together in an effort to deter crime.
The group was focused on Hoyne Avenue between Milwaukee and Armitage avenues on both nights. Hoyne was selected as a street to pay attention to because of two muggings there within the past few weeks, Jensen said.
Randy Schwartz, a Bucktown resident, volunteered Friday and Saturday night.
"I came out because unless you are willing to help keep your neighborhood safe, you don't have the right to bitch," said Schwartz, who has lived in Bucktown for 10 years.
Schwartz said it's "hard to say if crime has upticked," but he feels like there is more violence crime now, such as "stickups" and armed robberies, than a decade ago.
Jensen, who grew up in the neighborhood, said: "Back in the 80s, they'd rip out your [car] stereo; now it's people with a gun in your face demanding all your stuff."
Overall, Schwartz said that volunteering for the patrol was a nice way to meet his neighbors.
"We could be sitting in front of our coffee tables, but instead we are outside," Schwartz said.
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