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AUSTIN WEEKLY news ■
Retired officers say CPD needs better diversity training,
Vol. 31 No. 5
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January 25, 2017
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austinweeklynews.com
@AustinWeeklyChi
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PAGE 8
Also serving Garfield Park
Residents rise up against red light cameras
‘Ovaryacting?’ Thousands of people march through downtown for the Women’s March on Chicago, which took place on Jan. 21, a day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump. Many West Side residents helped organize the event.
By IGOR STUDENKOV Contributing Reporter
The Citizens to Abolish Red Light Cameras community group is continuing with its class action lawsuit against the City of Chicago over the improper issuance of speeding tickets and it’s looking to get more residents involved, especially on the South and West Sides. According to city law, drivers who were allegedly caught speeding were supposed to get two notices letting them know that they have a right to appeal. The lawsuit alleged that, because the city only sent out one notice to those drivers, it violated due process. In April 2016, Cook County Circuit Court judge Kathleen Kennedy rejected the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. In Sept. 14, 2016, the City Council approved an ordinance allowing the city to send out second notices, giving residents another chance to appeal. In November 2016, Kennedy certified the lawsuit’s class action status, which would ensure that, if the case is won, everyone who didn’t get the second notice would benefit. CARLC maintains that, because the tickets shouldn’t have been issued in the first See RED LIGHT CAMS on page 6
Meet Jamarr Jones, page 3
WILLIAM CAMARGO/ Staff Photographer
City, police pledge to do more about homelessness This year, fewer homeless people were counted in West Side communities By LEE EDWARDS Contributing Reporter
According to the 2016 Homeless Point-inTime Count and Survey Report, prepared for by the City of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago, there were 5,889 people in the city identified as homeless persons — a 13 percent decrease from the previous year and “the lowest observed figure in over ten years,” according to the report. That’s a marked improvement, but there is still more the city is trying to do for this often overlooked sub-population, as indicated by a collaboration between the Chicago
Police Department’s 25th District, the City of Chicago Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office on an effort to address the city’s homeless population. During an informational meeting held earlier this month at the 25th District headquarters, Tom Cotter, a CPD community relations sergeant for the 25th Dist., described the meeting as a “brainstorming session” to discover possible strategies to address homelessness. “Homeless people are citizens just like everyone else, we don’t discriminate, we don’t criminalize, we want to treat them with respect,” said Cotter. “The biggest
thing that breaks our heart is when we see them and it’s below zero and they’re freezing and they absolutely refuse anything from us.” The meeting was held in the run-up to the annual point-in-time, or PIT, count that DFSS will conduct on the night of Jan. 26 in collaboration with numerous local government bodies, area shelters, social service providers and at least 400 volunteers and staff members, among other partners. During last year’s PIT count, DFSS staff members counted the number of homeless people identified in the city’s emergency
Austin Chamber of Commerce on the move... 773.854.5848 • www.austinchicagochamber.com
See HOMELESSNESS on page 4