Massive Illegal Fireworks Display Endangers Hundreds in Harold Washington Park: No Police Presence

-posted by chicago pop

"For Licensed Display Operators Only": 108 Shots Diamond in the Sky

Immediately after the City of Chicago's fireworks display came to an end a little before 9:30 this evening, a local entrepreneur - or, more likely, a number of them - decided to illegally keep the show going in the open area of Harold Washington Park directly east of Regents Park apartments, near Lake Shore Drive and the pedestrian overpass at 51st Street (4th Ward - Burns). 

Some of the explosives, such as the tubes and large box pictured below, require a federal license to purchase and detonate, and the inventory of fireworks detonated probably cost $400-500 retail.

One of a half dozen fireworks installations, many professional grade 'Class B' barrages, left in the northern section of Harold Washington Park, on plywood sheets approximately 6'x4'.

 Illegal fireworks barrage with launch burns visible in the grass towards Lake Shore Drive

For approximately half an hour, the safety of hundreds of people on the lakefront and dozens of passing motorists was endangered by a barrage of powerful, professional-grade pyrotechnics shot off directly over their heads. 

The fireworks appear to have all been lit by hand, and within yards of 4th of July spectators. As of late on the evening of 4 July 2012, when these photographs were taken, the detritus was left scattered across the park grounds.

1.3 gram "Aerial Bombs" (license required for purchase), "Asian Sensation", "Never My Love," "Mammoth Strobe Mini"

Embers from the explosions in several instances fell directly onto the Drive, within feet of both observers and vehicles. 

According to the Chicago Municipal Code, any person wishing to obtain a permit for an outdoor fireworks display must, among other things, be licensed by the City, have a letter of consent from the Alderman (4th - Burns), be insured up to $1,000,000, and have the site inspected beforehand by Deputy Fire Commissioner. The ability to purchase 1.3G explosives (like the candy-cane colored "Aerial Bombs" pictured above and below) requires a federal license from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. 

I am curious to know if tonight's pyrotechnicians had taken to trouble to meet any of these requirements.

"Z Shape Tomy Gun: 360 Shots"

During the entire period, there was no visible Chicago Police Department presence, or response to repeated 911 calls. Transporting and arranging fireworks of this size and number obviously required some time, and the effort of more than one person, none of which was detected beforehand.

Public Meeting on Police Districts 2 and 21 (Hyde Park - Kenwood) Merging -- Ald. Will Burns Presiding

posted by chicago pop

Much of Hyde Park - Kenwood is in the Chicago Police Department's 21st District, pictured above. As a part of Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's proposed budget, this district would be one of three citywide that would be consolidated with surrounding districts as a cost-saving measure. The rationale for this, in the case of Hyde Park's 21st District,  is the fact that because of the relatively low number of 911 calls originating in the lakefront area, it is considered to be low crime and not in need of a dedicated district office and staff. The proposal therefore calls for the 21st to be merged with the neighboring 2nd (Wentworth, pictured below) that includes the area west of Cottage Grove to the Dan Ryan Expressway.

Based on discussion at a recent 21st District CAPS meeting, CPD representatives made it clear that if this consolidation goes through, police manpower will go where the 911 calls are. This is predominantly west of Cottage Grove. As a result, response time to 911 calls from Hyde Park - Kenwood could lengthen. If Hyde Park - Kenwood is as safe as this scenario assumes, then all is well, and the University of Chicago police should be able to pick up the slack. Or, if this is not the case, or if local crime takes the form of isolated sprees by individuals or groups, then these sprees could run longer, cause more damage, tax the U of C's police force, and aggravate the neighborhood's reputation as 'unsafe'.

CBS Chicago sums it up:

The Prairie District station at 300 E. 29th St. dates from 1952. It serves an oddly-shaped precinct, extending north of Cermak Road and west to the Penn Central railroad tracks to include Chinatown and parts of Bronzeville, then proceeding south down the lakefront east of Cottage Grove Avenue.

At its southern edge, the district borders include the entire Hyde Park neighborhood except for Jackson Park, and extend south to 61st Street between Cottage Grove and Dorchester avenues so as to include the entire U of C campus.

The U of C also has its own private police department, which patrols even farther south into the neighboring Grand Crossing District.

But the Chicago Sun-Times recently pointed out that the nearly 60-year-old station could be merged with the Wentworth District to the west, given that its resources are no longer dominated by crime in the now-demolished Robert Taylor and Stateway Gardens public housing high-rises along the State Street corridor.

Yet, while crime in Hyde Park and around the U of C campus is vastly lower than in many nearby neighborhoods, security is still a concern.

If you have any questions or concerns about this little-publicized bureaucratic reform, there is a public meeting on the issue with 4th Ward Alderman Will Burns tomorrow night at:

4935 S. Dorchester

St. Paul the Redeemer Church

6-8PM

Subject: Consolidation of the 21st and 2nd Police Districts

Thoughts From East Hyde Park

posted by richard gill

Two community relations officers of the 21st Police District attended the September 15 meeting of the East Hyde Park Committee. The 21st regularly sends officers to these meetings, to answer questions and discuss various issues.

This valuable service may no longer be available, because the district's community relations staff is being reduced from six officers to two. The reason for this is understandable—the officers are being reassigned to patrol duties as part of an effort to have more police presence on the street. But it short-changes community relations work, which is critically important in a big city.

This move illustrates just how tightly stretched the Chicago police are at this point. The root problem, of course, is money, and the city has none. There are places to look for money to hire more police. A good start would be reducing the number of political wards from 50 to 20, which would save the pay of 30 aldermen and perhaps 100 ward staffers. Then, take away, or at least reduce and restrict, aldermanic "menu" money, some of which is put to good use, but much of which is frittered away on stuff that just helps aldermen get reelected. (Can you spell "Free Parking and Positive Loitering?")