Comments

• On the article Police Charge Evanston Teen in Skokie Shooting

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  8:42 am on Thursday, May 23, 2013

  According to: http://www.icjia.state.il.us/public/pdf/ResearchReports/IL_Juvenile_Justice_System_Walkthrough_0810.pdf
  If a person is 17 years old at the time of the offense and charged with a felony, they are automatically transferred to adult court. In addition, there are several offenses (including "aggravated battery with a firearm where the juvenile personally discharged the firearm") where even a 15 year-old is automatically transferred to adult court. I assume that means that the standard adult court rules apply, including the possible release of name and picture.

• On the article Updated: Police Set to Make Statement Regarding Shooting in Skokie Today

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  10:31 am on Tuesday, May 21, 2013

  MikeTouhy - I disagree that "residents should not have to to anything". They need to take responsibility for their elected officials who are the ones who appoint the village manager, village staff, the police officers, etc. They also set the budget and the priorities for the village. Only 13% of registered voters in Skokie even bothered to vote in the recent election. However, just because the election is over does not mean that residents' responsibilities end. Right now we are in the process of determining next year's budget. These village officials not only determine what departments get how much money - but they set the priorities as well (should the police department's money be spent on more officers, more speed radar signs, or a mobile police station?).

  Residents need to voice their opinions - that is their responsibility. And not just on blogs and comments on news sites, but directly to the Village Board members.

• On the article Updated: Police Set to Make Statement Regarding Shooting in Skokie Today

  

  Katie Gudgel

  10:31 am on Tuesday, May 21, 2013

  At the Skokie Village Board meeting last night, an officer read a new press release statement that was composed yesterday afternoon. I don't know where you can get/read the press release at this point. I know that it was read aloud at the meeting, so once the board meeting video is posted online, you can see/hear it then. But I looked all over the Village's web-site for an updated press release and I didn't see one (only the information that was available earlier).

  The one thing that I do remember from the press release is that it was not a random act.

  There were a couple of representatives of the press at the board meeting last night. So, hopefully they will report soon. Perhaps George knows how to get a copy of the press release.

  Reply

• On the article Updated: Police Set to Make Statement Regarding Shooting in Skokie Today

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  5:09 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013

  Jay I agree with much of what you have said. I especially agree with the "you can't live in a bubble". So, why is it that the Village staff and officials believe that crime in Skokie is only a perception issue, and that crime has not actually increased. If you look at my post above, even in presentations by Village staff says that crimes against persons has gone up. And with some simple multiplication, combining these reportable crimes with the American Community Survey results says that even total crimes have not gone down as the Village claims.

  So, why won't village officials admit that there is a problem here so that we can start to address it?

• On the article Updated: Police Set to Make Statement Regarding Shooting in Skokie Today

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  5:09 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013

  In addition, what is not reported by the Village is a study that they had conducted that says that fewer people are actually reporting crimes to the police when they occur. The statistics that the Village (and I) have conveyed are only REPORTED crimes. If people aren't reporting them, then there may be more crimes happening.

  If you look at the American Community Survey results for the Village of Skokie, 79% of people surveyed said they reported crimes to which they were a victim. If you extrapolate that to the entire Village, that means that the 5077 reported crimes converts to an actual 6427 crimes in 2009. Similarly only 71% of people surveyed in 2012 reported crimes to which they were victims. So, that converts to 6439 overall crimes in 2012.

  So, even though REPORTED total offenses have gone down, fewer people are reporting those crimes. So, the total offenses have stayed the same or perhaps gone up between 2009 and 2012. In addition, my previous post says that crimes against persons have gone up even if you only look at the reported crimes.

  So, that is my basis for saying that crime has not gone down as many village officials claim. Look at crimes against persons and look at non-reported crimes.

• On the article Updated: Police Set to Make Statement Regarding Shooting in Skokie Today

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  5:09 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013

  Mark - you asked for substantiation for why people say that crime has increased. If you look at Graph 2 of the recent New Skokie, you will see that the 10-year average for crimes against persons is higher than the 20-year average, and the most recent 5-year average is even higher. While 2012 crimes against persons is lower than 2011 and 2010, it is higher than the 5-year average. So, here is your source for why people say crime has gone up.

  In addition, Graphs 1 and 3 indicate that total offenses in the past 5 years are also higher than they were 10 years ago.

  So, the Village's own newsletter says that crimes against persons have gone up. Skokie has gone from thefts from unlocked garages to things like shootings, rape, etc.

• On the article Updated: Police Set to Make Statement Regarding Shooting in Skokie Today

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  11:22 am on Monday, May 20, 2013

  The question isn't just whether crime has increased or decreased - but how does Skokie compare to its neighbors? Are people in Skokie safer than in Evanston, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles and Glenview - our direct neighbors? The same statistics used by the police to say that crime has decreased in Skokie, says that Skokie has more crime than our neighbors. Violent crime in Evanston is slightly higher than Skokie, but Skokie is higher than Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, and Glenview. Lincolnwood has slightly higher property crimes than Skokie, but Skokie has more property crimes than any of our other neighbors (I did not include Chicago because the statistics are for the entire city and what happens on the south side may not be representative of what is happening in Edgebrooke or Rogers Park).

  Now, I have only compared the actual crimes per person for these communities. Skokie staff say that crime is going down in Skokie, but is it going down faster than in neighboring communities so that perhaps in a couple of years we might be safer? Or is crime going down in neighboring communities as well? I do know that the decreases in violent crimes in Skokie is less than the decreases seen nationwide.

  (Note: this is all being done with fewer police officers per Skokie resident than any of our neighbors as well).

• On the article Construction Begins for $308K Traffic Signals

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  11:46 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2013

  Carol, I agree that stationing one of those electronic speed limit checkers would be helpful. Studies indicate that they are effective - even when enforcement does not change. Many people are just unaware of how fast they are actually going and need it to be flashed at them that they are exceeding the speed limit.

  Unfortunately, the Village only has two of them for the entire Village (one for each direction).

  The Village of Skokie is currently in the middle of its budget hearing process. Last night one of the topics was supposed to be police funding. We need to make sure that the police obtain additional speed limit checkers.

  Regarding the speed limit reduction - I will reiterate what I have said before - Randy Roberts said when he approved this last year that they could TRY it. Perhaps it is time to see if the speed limit reduction has actually reduced people's speed. And if it hasn't - then perhaps it is time to increase it back to 30mph so that we don't have quite as many dangerous drivers trying to get around those that they think are slow-pokes just because they are driving the speed limit.

  But I would encourage all of you to a) attend the budget hearing meetings or at least voice your opinion TO THE VILLAGE, and b) speak up to your newly elected trustees.

• On the article Construction Begins for $308K Traffic Signals

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  11:45 am on Tuesday, May 14, 2013

  Carol, I agree that stationing one of those electronic speed limit checkers would be helpful. Studies indicate that they are effective - even when enforcement does not change. Many people are just unaware of how fast they are actually going and need it to be flashed at them that they are exceeding the speed limit.

  Unfortunately, the Village only has two of them for the entire Village (one for each direction).

  The Village of Skokie is currently in the middle of its budget hearing process with the next hearing tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 6:15 at Village Hall. We need to make sure that the police obtain additional speed limit checkers.

  Regarding the speed limit reduction - I will reiterate what I have said before - Randy Roberts said when he approved this last year that they could TRY it. Perhaps it is time to see if the speed limit reduction has actually reduced people's speed. And if it hasn't - then perhaps it is time to increase it back to 30mph so that we don't have quite as many dangerous drivers trying to get around those that they think are slow-pokes just because they are driving the speed limit.

  But I would encourage all of you to a) attend the budget hearing meetings or at least voice your opinion TO THE VILLAGE, and b) speak up to your newly elected trustees.

• On the article Village Plans to Purchase 'Mobile Police Substation'

  

  

  Katie Gudgel

  12:17 pm on Wednesday, May 1, 2013

  I agree - people need to voice their opinions to people who at least potentially can make a difference. Options include: attend one of the upcoming budget hearings, attend the Village Board meeting where the budget will be discussed/approved, or directly write to your newly elected officials. Their email addresses are listed at: http://www.skokie.org/MayorandBoard.cfm. The newly elected trustees said that they listen to the residents - but that means that you have to speak in a forum where they are able to listen. So, if you are unhappy about the budget PROPOSAL then make sure that the newly elected officials hear your voice by speaking up at a public meeting or writing to them directly.