Education and Research
The Gang Book: In 2006 the Chicago Crime Commission released the first series of "The Gang Book"; a compilation and distillation of data and material provided by the Chicago Police Department and 81 law enforcement agencies in the outskirts of Chicago. The book includes descriptions of the leadership, structure, operations, clothing, tattoos, hand signs, graffiti markings, videos and social networking materials of the most prominent gangs in Chicago. The Crime Commission has updated the 2006 Gang Book to include 2010-11 data from the Chicago Police Department, Cook County Intelligence Unit, Illinois Department of Corrections, the Cook County Intensive Probation Services and Gang School Safety Team. It will be released early in 2012.
Stay Silent Stay Scared: Existing technology allows residents of the City of Chicago to anonymously submit crime tips to the Chicago Police Department via text message or through a secure smartphone application. While the technology has existed for some time, interviews conducted raised a general sentiment of distrust among residents of the anonymity of the program leading to low usage rates. Advertising agency, ESW, produced the "Stay Silent, Stay Scared" campaign, pro bono, to market the technology and to relay the message that sending tips to end crime will ultimately alleviate fear and underscores the anonymous nature of the technology. The Crime Commission is working to publicize the campaign.
Speaker Series: The Crime Commission plans to hold three seminars throughout next year on topics including gangs, gun policy, and the connection between the drug cartels in Mexico and Chicago's gang violence. The seminars will bring in both local and national experts on each topic to speak in front of an audience of local practitioners, researchers, law enforcement, and city, county and state agencies.
Crime History Preservation, Archives and Publications: Housing one of the oldest and most complete archives on organized crime throughout the past century, the Chicago Crime Commission has opened its vault to researchers and journalists to educate the public about lessons from the past, both successes and failures in law-enforcement initiatives and criminal activities. Our legal information center contains information about the organization of the court system, applicable court procedures. The recent publication, Friend and Foe, compiles glimpses of interesting moments of crime and crime history in a decade-by-decade pictorial, featuring photographs, cartoons, newspaper articles, lithographs, fingerprints, and drawings contained in the Commission's extensive archive.
Community Programs
Today's Readers/Tomorrow's Leaders: On September 10, 2011, the Chicago Crime Commission partnered with St. Sabina Church on the South Side of Chicago and delivered 1000 book bags in support of St. Sabina's back to school initiative. Promoting the need of education with the slogan, "Today’s Readers are Tomorrow’s Leaders," the Commission spent the day interacting with students and parents.
Safer Foundation Community Advisory Board: The Safer Foundation's mission is to reduce recidivism by supporting, through a full spectrum of services, the efforts of people with criminal records to become employed, law-abiding members of the community. The Chicago Crime Commission has joined the Safer Foundation's Community Advisory Board which is responsible for creating new opportunities and garnering additional resources for Safer's clients in the Adult Transition Centers located in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago.
Youth Outreach Gang Prevention Program: Staff members at the Chicago Crime Commission have developed an 8 week program for students ages 10-14 who are at-risk for criminal involvement. The curriculum addresses the reasons youth engage in gang and criminal activity, while supplying positive alternatives. The reward for active participation and good behavior while participating in the program is the opportunity to record a song using Columbia University’s recording studio.
Student Membership Program: The Chicago Crime Commission is developing a student membership board. Interested criminology students from Loyola University can become volunteer board members, and will have the opportunity to attend events and meet various key players in the criminal justice system in Illinois.
Legislation
Gaming: The Chicago Crime Commission has aggressively opposed the recent Gaming legislation, SB 744, and helped delay the Governor’s signing of the bill until there are adequate provisions to prevent organized crime and public corruption from infiltrating the gaming industry in Illinois. Governor Quinn recently came out with a scaled back version of the bill limiting the new casinos to Cook, Rockford, Danville and Lake County and prohibited gambling at racetracks, state fairgrounds, and Midway and O'Hare International Airports. The Governor also plans to ban campaign contributions from those who own gambling licenses and enhance oversight of the Illinois Gaming Board.
Micro-stamping: The Chicago Crime Commission is collaborating with Illinois State Senators Daniel Kotowski and Jacquelyn Collins on SB 3425 in promoting micro-stamping technology. In trying to solve violent crimes in which guns are used, law enforcement is limited in the investigative use which can be made of the cartridge casing of spent ammunition which are usually left at the crime scene. Only if a weapon is recovered will law enforcement be able to perform forensic tests to determine whether that particular weapon was used in the crime. Unfortunately, more often than not, the weapon is not recovered at the scene. Fitting newly-manufactured semi-automatic pistols with microstamping technology would enable law enforcement to examine cartridge cases fired from such weapons and learn the serial number of the weapon used. This, in turn, will enable law enforcement to attempt to identify the person (whether the original owner of someone else) who used the weapon in the violent crime.
Illinois Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Statute: The Chicago Crime Commission has partnered with the Cook County State's Attorney in support of HB 1907, Illinois Street Gang and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Law, sponsored by Representative Michael Zalewski. This legislation protects the residents of Illinois against street gangs and organized criminal enterprises. HB 1907 has been narrowed, and it has no application to political corruption or white collar crime, and no expansion of one-party consent recordings or wiretapping authority. If passed, the State of Illinois will have the authority, consistent with that under the federal RICO Act, which will allow for the dismantlement of the criminal enterprises that are inflicting harm upon both the people and economy of Illinois.
