Four-hundred sixty calls for help from 9th District domestic violence victims rang into a hotline in 2023: a 28 percent increase over 2022, reported The Network’s Megan Merrill at the Police District Council meeting on January 31, 2024.
More than half of the victims reported suffering emotional abuse, Merrill said, while about 170 said they were victims of physical abuse.
Merrill’s organization, known fully as The Network: Advocating Against Domestic Violence, has been active locally since 1980. Her presentation of domestic violence statistics took place at the regular meeting of the 9th District council, which for the first time ever occurred in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood.
One-Third of Women
Sharlyn Grace of the Cook County Public Defender's Office speaks at the January 31, 2024, 9th District Police Council meeting.The 9th District covers Chicago’s neighborhoods of McKinley Park, Brighton Park, Back of the Yards, Canaryville, Bridgeport and Chinatown.
“One third of women had experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime,” Merrill said. African-American women are almost three times more likely to be murdered by their intimate partner than members of other racial backgrounds, she added.
No Money Bond
In 2023, 44 percent of 9th District victims were Hispanic and 27 percent were black, Merrill said. She highlighted a number of resources for domestic violence victims, including The Network, Life Span, the Illinois Domestic Violence Hotline (also available at 877-863-6338) and Mujeres – Latinas en Acción.
The State of Illinois’ Pretrial Fairness Act, which went into effect in September 2023, also received attention at the district council meeting through a presentation by Sharlyn Grace from the Cook County Public Defender’s Office.
Reducing Incarceration
Grace explained how the act eliminates money bonds as a condition of pretrial release and how it reforms and provides transparency to pretrial and detention procedures. The act aims to restore the presumption of innocence and end jailing people pretrial because they can’t afford to buy their freedom, she said.
“Reducing or eliminating money bail has not caused a rise in crime or missed court dates in Chicago or any other state jurisdiction,” Grace said. The Pretrial Fairness Act makes communities safer because reducing incarceration cuts crime and strengthens communities, she said.
Meetings In All Neighborhoods
Following presentations, community members raised local public safety issues, including street racing at West 32nd Street and South Hoyne Avenue, a proposal to limit police traffic stops, and ceasing the City of Chicago’s ShotSpotter contract due to ineffectiveness.
9th District Police Council member Erin Vogel discusses upcoming meeting locations at the Back of the Yards meeting on January 31, 2024.District council member Erin Vogel noted that this year the council will meet twice in each of the six neighborhoods served by the 9th Police District, as detailed online in the 2024 9th District council meeting calendar.
The next meeting of the Chicago Police Department’s 9th District Police Council is in the Brighton Park neighborhood at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at Calmeca Academy, 3456 W. 38th St., Chicago.
Photography by Kevin O'Neil
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