Thank you Lisa for your honesty. I appreciate it very much. You have my vote, hands down! I just read the incident of the teenager getting mobbed by thugs so they could steal his sneakers and Iphone. ARE YOU KIDDING ME! This could have been my teenage son, who has an iphone and Nike sneakers. I can't imagine the emotional trauma this child is going through and will for years. The sad part is those thugs live in Skokie. I have already told my son that he cannot walk around in Skokie. There are areas in Skokie that are dangerous and residents should be warned. The teen was in one of those areas (between Main and Dempster and west of Skokie Blvd to Niles Center; also, between Main and Oakton west of Kostner to Skokie Blvd.) DONT GO INTO THESE AREAS! We need to see these thugs arrested and kicked out of Skokie. We also need Skokie officials who will allocate our resources appropriately. We need new leadership in Skokie! Please get out and vote for Lisa in the upcoming April election!

Agreed. Vote independents all the way. Will send a message and hopefully change will come about.
Also, maybe the local media (Tribune, Sun-times, ABC, NBC, CBS) investigative style reporters can take this topic on. Seems as if there is a large disconnect between the crime reality and our local governments view. Perhaps taking awareness of this problem to a level beyond the Patch will serve a purpose, as it seems Lisa's inquiry was stonewalled by some ghost payroll clown in village hall.
Your thoughts, fellow concerned Skokie citizens?

I strongly believe that Crime, in any community, it’s closely connected to their EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM.

When we have schools taking as many days off and half days as they (or their unions) want, we have as a result teens wandering in the streets without parental or adult supervision, and missing the chance to learn. And with increasing taxes from school districts, parents cannot have the Luxury to take those days off with pay, as teachers and school administrators do.

Let's also recognize that we have the issue of a school system in America with shorter school days, and many more days off (specially in the summer) compared to some countries in Asia, which are already surpassing us in educational attainments.

Crime is in itself a complex issue, and cannot be solved by a simple solution. But if we want to focus on solutions, let's start with our Education System. I would rather spend resources in improving the education system in our communities, rather than just trying to put more teens in jail, without evaluating the motives and the environment that creates such effect.

Dr. Liliana Fargo

Great article Lisa! One thing to keep in mind is that hiring more police is not the only solution. Keep our Village economically vibrant should be the main goal. And if we lose our "cherished" AAA rating to achieve this, it is ok too. Our country lost an AAA rating to go to AA+ (S&P) a couple of years ago in order to survive. It is better to lose our AAA rating today to achieve desired results than to lose it "organically" due to worsened economic and socioeconomic conditions a few years from now.

Lippin goes on and on and states the obvious. Skokie residents are upset about crime and she's all about capitalizing on that emotion. It's true ... somethin' needs to be done. But what? She doesn't say. She has no plan, at least not one that she's sharin' with us. One of her "opponents," independent candidate Brian Novak, posted his detailed ideas about public safety on Patch last week. No emotion baiting ... just facts. Read it and decide:
http://skokie.patch.com/blog_posts/my-plan-for-public-safety

wasn't Skokie Voice supposed to be nonpolitical? lisa lipin is running for trustee as the "founder" of sv, it says at the top of her article, and she is on its executive board. in the above coment another Voice executive board member is endorsing her. (it seems brian novak has left the SV board.) still yet another SV board member, mr. schwartz, is constantly posting harangues against the village and backing its opponent candidates.
is Skokie Voice a political party in disguize?

Skokie Voice is a non-political organization, which is comprised of individuals who joined Skokie Voice to make a difference. Hence, increased level of activity from the individuals who actively participated in Skokie Voice. Had Skokie Voice individuals did not want to make a difference, the organization would have been known as Skokie Whisper :)

why is skokie voice insistent on being labeled non-political? clearly they are political.

I applaud Lisa for bringing this issue up for public consideration and debate. I will also most likely support her run for trustee. I would like to see more of the details regarding how she plans to tackle this issue. However, lets also remember that she is not privy to some of the information that the village+current mayor/trustees have at their disposal as far as names+addresses of criminals in the past, police staffing, police approaches, etc.. Once that information is available for review, a more comprehensive plan could be established.

Skokie Observer is incorrect - Skokie Voice is not a political organization, and Lisa Lipin is not a member of the Skokie Voice Executive Board. The Executive Board consists of the four executive officers of Skokie Voice. While both Lisa and Seymour Schwartz are members of the Skokie Voice Board of Directors, they are free to express their view as citizens of Skokie and, in Lisa's case, as a candidate for Trustee. Lisa's term as chair of Skokie Voice ended on December 31, 2012.

Jerry Kohn, Chair, Skokie Voice

Skokie is very fortunate to have this candidate running for office! Everyone must vote to make a positive impact. LISA LIPIN for Village Trustee!

You feel bad for the poor kid who was mugged?

It happened ON MY BLOCK OF ELM STREET. Do you think the casualty was the fear the young kid felt? Is that the damage? Six or seven thugs DRESSED HEAD TO TOE IN BLACK surrounded and victimized him.

How sad. Nope. He isn't a victim any longer. His suffering has ended. NOW YOUR VILLAGE IS THE VICTIM. YOU'RE THE VICTIM. What do you think mommy promised little Johnnie when he got home?

"Johnnie, we're moving. We're leaving Skokie. I love you and will NEVER let harm come to you again." She put "MUST MOVE ASAP" to the top of her to do list.

The MEN IN BLACK WIN. MULTIPLE VICTORIES IN A SINGLE ACT.One more vacancy in a troubled community. Think the supply of good people, (uninformed sheep) is limitless?

Nope. That's one family gone. Maybe more after they read these things. And more room for the bad guys. And real landlords will have a harder time finding good quality people to fill that empty space. End of the road, only bad people will consider living in Skokie. Good people, gone. That's the bigger loss. THAT'S THE REAL CRIME. THE REAL LOSS.

And what ought to really make your blood boil, is that the Men in Black, are laughing their collective asses off and rejoicing in what "bad asses" they are and how helpless the citizenry is. Work with the REAL LANDLORDS. We want these guys OUT !!

Betterlandlord@aol.com Kindly email me..We'll chat. Anyone who wants this solved.

Ask a cop, we need more cops. Ask a teacher, we need more teachers...any body see a pattern?

Why haven't the ones we have now kept this from happening in the first place? Can you figure that out? GET IT? NO ? REALLY?

Need more of what isn't working...so it cannot work even more?

I still don't understand which crimes are actually rising. The author lists several crimes that occurred, but puts no context in play in which to compare them to the past or to other similar communities.

And the comment about the cameras is ridiculous. The Caucus Party has seen crime stats showing a reduction across the board in nearly all areas of crime in the community. You "disagree" with these stats and push for the party to take action. They deal specifically with the concern in a fiscally responsible manner (or at least propose to do so) and now you are claiming what? that they've admitted there's a problem.

This is your platform? I don't get it.

Instead of parsing out numbers, we need to acknowledge that the issue of which we as Skokie residents should all be concerned is a diminished sense of community. We have a heterogeneous community and that's something to be proud of. But it also means that it takes effort on all our parts to get to know our neighbors. It may be easier to fear strangers but all of us suffer when the cry for more police and more fences overcomes the social impulse. To its credit, the Village voices pride in this diversity and is recruiting new leaders. I look forward to the day when the leadership in Skokie fully reflects the ethnic, age, and economic diversity of our suburb, We all love Skokie and want to see it thrive. Talk to the parents who visit the ELL Parents Center on Kenton. Here's what one young immigrant mother wrote as part of a writing project, and her strong feeling comes through the tentative English: "I enjoy living here. I feel comfortable because of the beauty, nice people, and a good environment makes excellent emotions."

I would suggest to Skokie candidates and incumbents alike that all the ingredients for a healthy community are already here: our residents. All of us, regardless of whether we are renters or homeowners, newcomers or old-timers, disabled or independent, native born or immigrants, young or old, living as single parents or in multiple generations, and in which neighborhood, don't need more police. We need to be treated - and treat each other - with respect.

Gail,
That sounds good. In the meantime, what do we do about those that never learned respect. Those that commit the crimes we read about, daily. They have no respect for themselves, much less their neighbors.
What do we do?
Believe the claim that crime is down?

Ok, this was a well-written essay about Skokie residents lacking their sense of community. I would like to know how it effects our present situation and how, with a heightened sense of community, our crime situation will, proportinately, improve. How about a real plan? I have not heard anything lately about a young immigrant mother committing any crimes. In fact, she probably works two jobs to keep her family afloat. Let's cut the proverbial BS and have a real plan with real results. Wouldn't most Skokie residents love that?

Sadly the thugs will always win. They know how to always evade police. They will constantly duplicate coming from Evanston and Chicago. I don't know how voting independent is going to change anything. Gangs are a huge problem in Chicago and its suburbs. There is no stopping them.

Gail,Kindly meet with the six men in black who beatthe hell out of the young man on my street, and tell them how they should reach out and get to know their neighbors. I am sorry they already did reaxch out didn't they. Maybe YOU could show them the light?

My guess is they would rather get high.

Skokie residents ARE concerned about the diminishing sense of community. We know how unique and beautiful our suburb is and we don't want it to change. Unfortunately, not every resident who lives in Skokie knows how to treat people. That's the problem! Just ask the teenager who was mugged last week for a pair of sneakers and an iPhone. What is the solution? Manditory classes to teach respect?

If this comment board shows how people in Skokie who care enough to comment and have “ideas” really are, it’s no wonder the place is in trouble.
Sorry for my mistake above. So Lisa Lipin isn’t on the SkokieVoice executive, she’s only on its board of directors like many (past and present) who continue to cheerleading for her on Skokie Patch. If Voice is trying to get new people elected, why don’t they just come out and say so. What are they doing, half in and half out. What is the point. What are they about, just hearing their own voices?

Of course they have the “right” to run for office and to say what they think. No one is questioning that. The question is, what does it lead to. If Lipin and other independents care so much about change, they would have banded together found others who think like they do and really challenged the SkokieCaucus party.
Even IF one or two indeps get elected, they will still be outnumbered by the Caucus majority that will still be running Skokie, the people who have turned a deaf ear to the crime problem and continue to do that even as they run for office and re-election.

Lipin is right, there is a crime problem in Skokie. But go further then she does and figure out what to do about it. For someone who has “read the studies” and chatted with cops, she has no concrete ideas.
Voting for 1 or 2 independents will not change things. Find other ways to pressure local government. Peaceful and SMART ways that do not depend on what this comment board is full of: cheerleading, denying the crime problem, insisting on solutions (like fixing the economy and education) that are beyond Skokie’s reach. Conspiracy fantasies (‘there’s a group importing crime into Skokie’), preaching about respect and tolerance that criminals don’t understand/care about, talking about rights instead of responsibilities.
How are you going to organize? What is your PLAN? Or do you think blowing off steam is enuf as Skokie slowly changes for the worse and the Caucus and their lackeys keep laffing all the way to the bank?
Why don’t you make yourselves some picket signs, call some reporters and get out in front of Village Hall to demand immediate action on crime? Present a three-point plan and get a spokesman/woman who is NOT running for office, so the village can’t say it's political. Gather a crowd that reflects the diversity of Skokie residents. Give the mayor and village manager a deadline and tell them that you will be out there every week (including after the election) until they act. Don’t give up, show up. And wake up about how change will happen.

Here's my own Skokie moment. My daughter and I were walking one weekend evening through the wasteland known as Downtown Skokie when we heard a tremulous voice shouting, "Help me! Help me! I need help!" It was an old man dressed only in pajamas, which did not keep out the February weather. He was frightened, disoriented, cold and alone. It was a scene out of King Lear -- but this was no stage play. We asked him where he lived, and he pointed vaguely, in no particular direction, as though to say, I'm not certain I live anywhere, but I sure would like to be somewhere else.

Fortunately, a police car materialized at that moment, and a female officer with a Russian accent took charge of the situation. She was unfazed, as though this sort of thing happened every day, and very likely it does. Maybe by now the Skokie cops have their own code for it.

The only way to begin solving one's problems is to look at oneself closely. The fact is, we live in a socially impoverished place. When a town has no center, little public space or public life, few pedestrians, little neighborliness -- in short, not much shared -- it not only allows crime, it breeds crime. We can't police or punish our way out of this situation -- we already have one cop for every two blocks. It's so easy to attack and blame and complain; it's not as easy to connect, to care, to open oneself, to bring together. But it's the only thing that can save this town of ours, or this world.

Part I - Thank you for the comments. I understand that residents want solutions for curtailing crime in Skokie, as do I. Nevertheless, before we can fix the problem, we must acknowledge it exists. Secondly, we must gather all pertinent data so we can make educated decisions. It would be disingenuous for me to declare that I have all of the answers and that I alone can fix Skokie. I will work with the other Trustees to make improvements, but I will also insist on a great deal of community involvement. For years, residents have not had open lines of communication with village officials. I will listen to residents and will effectively mobilize the community to take action.

Part 2 - As my record demonstrates, I'm not afraid to confront what has to be done and to ask tough questions. I organized the steering committee and approached the village officials to hold a town hall meeting to address the concerns of residents back in 2010 – over 500 people attended. I incorporated and chaired a viable residents association. For years, I have been reaching out to the police, residents and victims of crime to build relationships.

I believe the Village board would benefit from my experience. As far as specific details for eradicating crime, I know that we need more police on the streets and we need to work with them to make sure they have the necessary tools to keep us safe. Also, the police and fire contracts, which have been left in limbo for years, must be settled. I have filed FOIA requests to take a closer look at our safety needs, but access has been denied by village officials. As a trustee, I will have more information, and therefore, can help make more informed decisions.

Simply put, I believe I can use my advocacy experience to create a stronger village board, and consequently, a stronger and safer Skokie.

Feel free to email me at lisa@lipinfortrustee.com with your thoughts and/or concerns and I will respond.

The deep problem in Skokie -- and in the country -- isn't the prevalence of crime, it's the absence of consciousness and conscience. So many of the commentators want more police, more authority, less personal responsibility, less social engagement. I prefer a real community to a police state. The answer to crime isn't more laws, it's a stronger social fabric.

So my mom was right after all. Jayavarman: I take your point. You are not stupid. However, it's obviously not so black or white. I am sad that my childhood home is not how I remembered it.
Lynn Epstein

Thank you Lynn; my point is just that, that it is not black and white, which is why we need things like poetry and imagination. These are what make us human and give us empathy, which is so sorely lacking in many of these comments, especially the abusive ones, as Ann Gersh's above. What I am trying to get people to understand is that we must examine ourselves, and ask whether the problem is "out there" or "in here," in our own attitudes and assumptions. Skokie is a moribund town. Will an additional cop bring it back to life? Some of these people want to return to a past that is long gone and will never return, and was not as idyllic as they'd like to think, from the perspective of those who were excluded. The question isn't, how can we return to the past, it is rather, what changes must we make in order to create a sane, decent, livable future, one that includes all and excludes none? That would be a discussion worth having. But it requires a brain and a heart.

This is not a "perception" problem as much as a "relativity" problem. My husband grew up in Skokie and referred to it as "the bubble" because it seemed shielded from the Big City problems of Chicago. Skokie is no longer the bubble, it's true. But neither is it a lawless No-man's Land.

The author cites ten instances of violent crime over as many months. Chicago had 11 murders on New Year's Day alone. Since the beginning of the year and through February 10, Chicago had 192 shootings and 47 murders. https://portal.chicagopolice.org/portal/page/portal/ClearPath/News/Crime%20Statistics/1_pdfsam_compstat_public_dateofApproval_2013_week6.pdf

So is crime *really* epidemic in Skokie, relative to what our near neighbor Chicago is experiencing? No. It may not be "the bubble," but it is hardly a place where citizens have to draw the shades and sleep in bath tubs to avoid being shot.

When my husband grew up here, there were "greasers" - now there are gangs. Yes; they overtake parks, but the police have taken note, targeted those parks and in the case of one near my residence, the problem has been greatly diminished as a result of their actions.

The 1950s are gone, American society is generally less civil than it used to be, and Skokie isn't Mayberry. Fear-mongering and finger-pointing at straw men are merely campaign tactics.

Thanks Susan. You have stated much more eloquently and clearly than I could the basic crux of the matter. You are so correct.

No they are not tactics and you know that.

Comparatives...I always love comparatives...What exactly is their relevance?
More people die in Baghdad every day. So what? I don't live in Baghdad, though sometimes it feels like it.

The monsters are out there. Are you trying to tell me the Monsters aren't so bad?
John Lockerby is happy to spout off his flawed "statistics" courtesy of the SPD. Let's not forget the "business angle" in all this.

Would you be interested in purchasing a nice 3 flat. I can offer you a very good deal!!

Nicely improved. In a very flawed village with trustees committed to urban decay and "the broken windows theory".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory

Streets in horrible condition, clogged sewers, broken curbs potholes on alley aprons, streets and alleys....unsightly streetscapes...on and on. Thank you Skokie.

At least I can be proud of the village's appearance, huh? And get a nice ice cream cone now too.

The statistics collected over 2012 are instructive:
Aggravated assault down 11%
Assaults down 14%
Car theft down 14%
Criminal damage down 12%
Drug arrests down 4%
Robberies down 8%
Thefts down 2%
These stats are part of a five-year trend. I find no justification for "the sky is falling!" alarmism.

Only in Skokie. A huge country, but I am betting he is the only guy in it who got that sweet valentine. Only in our community. Merchandise counterfeiters, medicare fraudsters, father and son marijuana grow operations, nuts masquerading as attorneys in the Cook County courts, grandfathers stabbing their daughters and grand daughters to death.

I can go on and on....but would never want to be perceived as "rabid". I am terrified of the finger pointers. Yeah, for sure.

Never been so proud of " Our diversity" as I am lately. Good thing diversity never divides, or creates division. We are becoming a regular Tower of Babel.

And our Mayor refers to the general discontent of residents as "a village not without controversy".

What is Susan feeding that knucklehead at night?

We will only be rid of him and Rigoni after we decide to picket city hall regularly and call the TV press out to expose it on a broader platform. When it's no longer fun to go to the office every day and wreck the village, they will take off.

Somewhere out there I know there's a psychologist dying to study this guy because of his level of self-delusion.

Any one who doesn't perceive that there is a ton of turmoil and despair in this town is greatly self deluded or asleep.

Meet some of your diverse neighbors:
http://chicagogangs.org/index.php?pr=gdn

Take a good look at those faces.

The GD's who claim Skokie as their turf. Right there on their damned gangster web site. It's been there for years now. Flashing their signs, showing their guns, cash....too bad the drugs aren't displayed too.

When Elyn referred to them as 'Rug Rats' I am guessing she either mis-spoke or is too frightened to call them out as who they are.

My percleption of crime in Skokie took an unwelcome uptick yesterday, when someone broke into my condo building. Luckily, it wasn't my apartment they broke into. Nobody seems very clear about exactly what happened, excleplt that once the police were called, they relsponded quickly.