Street Racing Tops Complaints at Police Beat Meeting

Complaints like these are nothing new.

Street racing was the biggest and loudest crime problem for McKinley Park neighborhood residents attending the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) Beat 912 meeting on September 11, 2024, at the McKinley Park field house.

Most complaints originated from the intersections of South Archer Avenue and West 35th Street, and West 32nd Street and South Hoyne Avenue.

"Cops Are Outnumbered"

A resident attending the meeting expressed frustration with street racing at the busy intersection of Archer Avenue and 35th Street. Police “were doing nothing. No one seems to care,” she said.

“Cops are outnumbered,” said CAPS Officer Christopher Gonzalez. “We are in one car, but we sometimes encounter 100 cars” at street racing locations.

96 Calls

Officer Gonzalez said police received 96 calls about street racing between July 10 and September 10, 2024. In the previous two-month periods, there were also exactly 96 street racing calls received by police.

“People are not calling 911 due to frustration with the problem,” said a meeting attendee, who did not want to give her name.

Block Club

Another resident from the 3300 block of South Hoyne Avenue complained about gunfire at 3 a.m. in front of her home and reported that five catalytic converters had been stolen from cars on her block.

12th Ward Alderwoman Julia Ramirez suggested that her office could help start a block club on the block, so neighbors could join together to tackle crime problems.

Crime Statistics

Gonzalez reported 26 violent crimes in the two month period since the last CAPS meeting: eight robberies and three shootings with victims. One shooting occurred on July 11, 2024, after midnight in the 3300 block of South Ashland Avenue, where an individual in a car shot and struck a pedestrian, who was reported to be in critical condition.

In the two month period from July 10 to September 10, 2024, police received 2,770 calls for service in Beat 912, Gonzalez said. These included 50 reports of shots fired, 24 calls of persons with a gun and 10 mental health disturbances.

Next Meeting Nov. 13

Police made 46 arrests during this time, including two for motor vehicle theft, Gonzalez said. Four burglaries and 10 motor vehicle thefts were part of a total of 27 property crime reports.

The next CAPS Meeting for Beat 912 — and the final beat meeting of the year — takes place at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, at the McKinley Park field house.