Toriano Clinton rolls up to a curbside memorial for a dead gang member and slows his SUV. “Hey, Pretty Boy,” a middle-aged drug dealer calls to the plainclothes Englewood District cop. Clinton smiles, even though he hates the nickname. “Everything cool, cuz?” he says. The dealer nods. Throughout his shift on this hot summer night, Clinton will go through the same exchange a dozen times. Police work in one of Chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods isn’t only about chasing the bad guys and locking them up. It’s also about connecting with the people you see every day — even the bad guys. It’s about being seen. It’s about doing the mundane things that police Supt. Garry McCarthy is counting on to keep shootings and other serious crimes from happening in the first place: Shooing loiterers off the street corners. Busting up sidewalk dice games. Clearing teenagers out of raucous house parties. After 11 years in Englewood, Clinton knows the complicated patchwork of gang boundaries and the bosses who control the street crime. On the street, the crooks and sweet old ladies alike recognize Clinton by his good looks. He’s linebacker-buff with a movie-star smile and dreadlocks tied back in a ponytail that bounces behind him as he moves. “I’ve built a rapport with a lot of gang members,” he says. “They’ll give me information.” The one he called “cuz?” “I arrested that guy before,” he says. “I trust no one, even though our conversation was friendly.” When McCarthy came in with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the new superintendent disbanded the old specialized units of black-uniformed officers who used to be sent out en masse to hot spots of violence. Instead, McCarthy put his emphasis on beat cops and tactical officers like Clinton. He boosted their numbers in Englewood, and he is making sure they have up-to-the-minute information on the 100 well-armed gang factions in the district. The goal: to prevent retaliatory shootings.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL CHICAGAO SUN-TIMES NEWS STORY
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar