Police converge on SXU to hold area gang summit

by Patrick Thomas

St. Xavier University (SXU) may not seem the likeliest place to host a summit on street gangs. But positioned like a gateway between the city and suburbs and with a spacious gymnasium to offer, SXU was the perfect venue for more than 500 officers from 80 regional law enforcement agencies to discuss options to control dangerous street gangs.

“We thought this would be a good time of year when it’s a little bit quiet and we have a chance to bring everybody together. St. Xavier was very gracious to allow us to use their facility,” said Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis, taking a break from the Chicago Metropolitan Gang Summit on March 3 in SXU’s Shannon Center. “What we tried to do was bring in as many agencies as there were interested in coming to discuss various gang strategies, look at a little bit of what the problem is and come up with new and creative ways to attack the problem.”

Presenters included representatives from the Chicago Police, the Illinois State Police, the FBI, the DEA, the Cook County Department of Corrections, the Illinois Department of Corrections, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Cook and Will counties state’s attorney’s offices. Officers came from as far as DeKalb County to learn more about gangs in Chicago and surrounding suburbs, intelligence sharing, narcotics operations, imprisoned gangs, new laws and federal prosecution.

Not only was the event a networking opportunity, but also a chance to equip officers with more “tools in the toolbox,” Weis said. He said smaller agencies, for example, may not have experience working with federal prosecutors, which could potentially provide lengthier sentences for criminals.

“I hope [the officers] go home with a better understanding of the gang problem. I hope they go back with some new options to address this,” Weis said. “We’re just trying to make sure that all of the investigators who are combating the gangs and guns and drugs every day are armed with as many options and resources for a successful prosecution and a successful investigation that we can provide to them.”

The Chicago and Berwyn police departments, along with SXU, presented the summit, thanks in part to Berwyn Police Chief William Kushner. Kushner, a former lieutenant with the Chicago police for 29 years and in his last days before retirement after four years with Berwyn, first approached Weis with the idea of hosting the unique summit to connect separate agencies that are often chasing the same bad guys.

“We’re not only fighting the same street gangs, we’re fighting the same gang members. The kid who [Chicago Gang Enforcement Cmdr. Leo Schmitz] is chasing on the West Side of Chicago may be in Chicago today but is in Berwyn later in the day, and he might be in Will County tomorrow,” Kushner said.

Schmitz said that where the gang members go, so goes the crime, making communication between various agencies vital.

“It’s very important because the people we push out they move out to the suburbs, and they keep safe houses out there. They may be working and dealing in the city; but they feel safer going out there, and when they go out there, they bring crime with them. So, when we can connect with the suburbs we can work together against these guys,” Schmitz said.

Nick Roti, deputy chief for the Chicago Police Organized Crime Unit, said there are an estimated 70,000 gang members living in the Chicago area. They are identifiable through documentation from previous arrests and even tattoos, he said. Because officers have bitten off the head of many of these gangs, however, smaller groups have realigned, he said.

“We’ve made a lot of in-roads. [We’ve taken a lot of the gangs] off the hierarchy in the last 10 years, which has a lot of benefits but also a lot of challenges because now you have a group of gang members who used to listen to a hierarchy that now has no hierarchy, so it’s broken up into factions,” Roti said.

Given that the homicide rate in Chicago fell about 11 percent in 2009, Roti believes police are making a dent in the problem.

“A good portion of our homicides— about 70 percent—are gang- or narcotic-related. If you can measure success in any way, that would probably be one way of doing it,” Roti said.

Weis compared the situation to a growing franchise. While 10 years ago, police may have gone after the corporation, now they have to attack each franchise.

“You have more people and decision-makers than there were before,” Weis said. “It’s forced us to look at new ways to go after these guys.”

Weis said one of the new measures police are planning to use to combat gang members is a recently enacted law in honor of Officer Alejandro “Alex” Valadez. The new law sets a mandatory minimum prison sentence for gang members convicted of possessing a loaded gun in a public area. Valadez, a Chicago officer and Br. Rice High School graduate, was killed last summer while on duty, and two of his alleged killers were reputed gang members on probation.

“Alex Valdez lost his life to a guy who should have been in jail. If this law was in effect, he would have been in prison,” Weis said. “We think this is a good tool that the guys here can work with their partners in the state’s attorney’s office to have an impact. If nothing else, maybe it can make gang members think twice about carrying a gun.”

Kushner, a former commanding officer for asset forfeiture and money laundering with the Chicago Police Department, said Chicago police are seizing an average of $11 million per year, an asset for police during a fiscal crunch.

“It’s a tremendous tool that many departments do not use enough because they are not aware of it. There is really quite a bit of cash and properties coming out of Chicago,” Kushner said. “I used to say, ‘I don’t just want to send people to prison. I want to send people to prison in their underwear. Everything they have gotten they have gotten through an alley, they’ve gotten through narcotics sales, they’ve gotten through violence, they’ve gotten through extortion. Those funds are converted, and when they are awarded by the court, they are converted back to law enforcement agencies that seize them for the express purpose of fighting gangs, guns and drugs.”

Kushner said the summit also gave officers insight into working with local correctional facilities to obtain intelligence from incarcerated gang members.

“Many of them will cooperate in exchange for special privileges. It’s a resource that many people in law enforcement haven’t tapped into,” Kushner said.

Kushner, an alumnus from SXU and a Beverly resident, said it’s hard to find space to host so many officers, but he said it helped having close ties to his alma mater. Two days before his last day on the job in Berwyn, Kushner said one of his last priorities was ensuring the summit happened, he said.

“This is something I wanted to see through to the end.”

This is part of the March 10, 2010 online edition of The Beverly Review.

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