Oct 21, 2009 10:35 pm US/Central
Resident Fed Up With South Shore Crime
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Essex and 79th in the South Shore neighborhood is a powder keg of gangs, drug dealing and bursts of violence.
CBS
Mayor Daley says it's likely that the new city budget won't allow any big increases in police manpower. That's troubling news to one South Side resident. He's fed up with living in fear, listening to gunshots outside his window. He wants more police on his streets.
CBS 2's Mike Parker reports that the neighborhood is South Shore, just off the lake near Rainbow Beach. It used to be quiet. Now it is a powder keg of gangs, drug dealing and bursts of violence.
Essex and 79th is a blue light crime camera corner in the heart of the area.
A female beat cop said, "If it wasn't for the liquor store, it wouldn't be too bad. It's a lot of trouble, a lot of drug activity."
While there, we found anger from one young man who was upset that images of the intersection would be seen on the news.
"Go where your hood is," he said. "Don't shoot that (stuff) down here. Go back where you live at."
There are too many corners like that one in South Shore, too few quiet and peaceful streets.
One resident remembers 30 years ago.
"It was really beautiful. You could let your children play out, no problem," said Randolph Strahan. "Now, you're dodging the bullets."
The retired CTA employee says he hears gunshots near his home regularly. He showed us seven bullet holes in the abandoned house next door to his own.
Strahan says the gunfire, the bullet holes and the rock somebody pitched through his front window, have him worried about a budget crunch affecting police manpower.
He wants more officers around, "so that the police department can serve and protect which is their motto."
In Strahan's immediate neighborhood, the last four days have seen one fatal shooting, nine aggravated battery incidents, 11 burglaries, 25 drug-related arrests and three attacks on seniors.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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