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On Saturday afternoon, the food and the temperature were steaming hot inside Squeakies, a soul food restaurant at 5658 W. Madison St.
Squeakie, the owner of the restaurant who preferred to not give his full name, said he hasn’t yet seen any officers patrolling the area on foot, but he would welcome their presence.
Squeakie said he’s run the restaurant for nearly two years and would like to see more police in the neighborhood because it would make him feel safer. In the evenings, he doesn’t let any suspicious people into the eatery.
“Sometimes at night I lock my inside doors,” Squeakie said. “At one point there were a lot of robberies around here, and [I’d] rather be safe than sorry.”
As part of an initiative to reduce violent crime on Chicago’s West and South Sides, officers have been on foot patrol in Austin for about two weeks now, said Deputy Chief John Escalante.
Although their first priorities are enforcing city and state laws and targeting areas experiencing violent crimes, the officers are also hoping to establish a rapport with Austin residents and document other community needs, Escalante said.
While they are on duty, officers will talk with residents and report any problems that need to be fixed, such as broken lights, graffiti, abandoned cars and vacant buildings, he said.
“They’re basically being some eyes and ears on the ground that are going to bring in [necessary] city services,” Escalante said. “Those little things will have a positive effect in the long run,” Escalante said.
By forming positive relationships with residents, officers hope to make the community feel more comfortable with them and forthcoming with information about neighborhood activity, said Officer Norma Trevino-Duffy, who patrols Austin.
The officers report problems to their sergeant or the officer on duty, so that they can be fixed and residents can take more pride in their community, she said.
Police have received positive feedback from the community, and their visibility often deters criminal activity, said Officer Neil Duffy, another officer who patrols Austin.
“If [an officer] walks up to your front steps to greet you, you may be more prone to tell he or she more about instances that may be going on,” Duffy said. “We know we can’t save the world, but we’re trying our best to make little differences that will turn into bigger ones.”
It is too early to tell whether the patrols have significantly reduced crime in Austin, but hopefully, the officers’ interaction with the community will reduce crime in the long term, Escalante said.
Having more officers around will help people feel more comfortable, restaurant owner Squeakie said.
“[More police presence] would be nice for all the young people around here, [because] I feel safer,” he said.