As Chicago Police and other city resources were mobilized for the Democratic National Convention this week, members of the 15th Police District Council held a news conference Wednesday to highlight possible solutions to the ongoing violence in the Austin community.
Speaking from inside the Brian Pickett Funeral Home, during a Wednesday evening where the press conference was held – just a few feet away from a white casket used to symbolize the constant occurrence of deaths in the community due to gun violence and other violent crimes – Deondre’ Rutues, community engagement specialist for the 15th Chicago Police District Council, said he and others wanted to shine light on the violence in Austin.
“In the Austin community, several lives were lost over the last couple weeks, some of which have been highlighted in the media as it relates to the heinous and violent nature of it,” Rutues said.
Speaking with the Austin Weekly News before the news conference, Rutues referred to the recent murder on Chicago Avenue that was captured on video showing a daytime shooting with three gunmen shooting and killing an individual.
“The heinous nature of it made us want to act because as our roles dictate, we are supposed to be involved in both the public safety and policing accountability,” Rutues said. “We cannot just allow ourselves to be involved in just the police accountability part of it without uplifting public safety, especially since we have so many dignitaries not three and half miles from us enjoying the best of Chicago while we live here enjoying the worst of Chicago.”
One of the nonprofit groups working to prevent violence in Austin, ANCHOR Chicago, attended the conference. The group’s founder, H. Harper, spoke, saying that if something happens in Austin, it impacts other nearby West Side communities.
Carmelita Earls, chairperson for the 15 Police District Council, also spoke with the Austin Weekly News before the press conference, saying organizing at the funeral home was fitting because it’s where a lot of residents are convening as a result of violence in the community.
“Let’s try to be proactive and realize that we don’t want to meet here,” she added. “Let this be the last time that we convene and let’s talk about something that resolution can resolve. The majority of things that are going on in our community [are the result of] a misunderstanding.”
Earls said that one of her constituents the other day walked out to her garage as she was leaving for work and came upon the body of a young male in the alley on the 4800 block of West End.
“What’s wrong with us!? Enough of this already,” she said.
The press conference was not to slam anybody, Earls added.
From a resolution standpoint, Earls said children need to have buy-in and a road map that gives them options for going to school, to work or to the military, because letting them set the bar is not working.
Funeral Home Director Brian Pickett hosted the press conference.
“Enough is enough,” Pickett said. “Funerals should be held years down the line and not be a life taken so violently. Families share with me how they’ve lost their loved ones to gun violence versus someone being sick, is something that must stop. Resources to help individuals selling drugs get back to work and residents claiming their blocks back can help make a difference.”
Fifteenth District Police Councilman Arewa Karen Winters said that conversations about the violence taking place in the communities is not something being discussed at the DNC.
She added that everything cannot be put on the shoulders of the police department and that a special meeting of the 15th District Council is needed to create a safety plan that can be supported by the police.
“There are things that can happen in the home and in the community,” Winters said. “We have to do this for ourselves.”
The initial location for the press conference was planned for outside the 15 District Police Station but was changed because of the DNC staging there. Rutues said he failed to confirm it with 15th Police District Commander Carlin Morse.
Rutues added this was not a situation where they were trying to make the police department look bad and decided to go with a different location, which ended up being the Brian Pickett Funeral Home on West Madison Ave.
The funeral home was significant, Rutues said, because it received a significant amount of work because of the issues in the community that shows what the Austin community is dealing with.
“We wanted to make sure we used our platform to make sure that we elevate what is going on in our community and to make sure our voices were used to elevate the community’s concern for public safety,” Rutues said. These concerns are being discussed during our meetings.”
Some of the long-term solutions Rutues mentioned include Chicago Public Schools implementing a trauma-informed curriculum with an emphasis on emotional regulation; greater investment in a parent university that schools should utilize as community hubs with wraparound services; and establishing a Restorative Justice Court.
The Austin Weekly News reached out to 15th Chicago Police District Commander Carlin Morse but did not hear back.
