East Chicago Police Department looks to IU Northwest experts to help build more efficient department

Friday, February 22, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Steve Segura

City of East Chicago 

Multimedia Division

4444 Railroad Ave.

East Chicago, 46312

ph: 219-391-8206

fx:219-391-8224

ssegura@eastchicago.com

East Chicago Police Department looks to IU Northwest experts to help build more efficient department  

Access to university data analysis software and expertise to enable more proactive policing

A partnership between the East Chicago Police Department (ECPD) and experts at Indiana University Northwest will provide the law enforcement agency with tools it needs to better allocate its resources for more proactive policing.

Through IU Northwest’s Center for Urban and Regional Excellence , which focuses on helping community partners drive positive change by co-creating solutions to their challenges, the ECPD, as well as other police and emergency agencies in the region, now have access to sophisticated computer statistical analysis methods typically only available in large metropolitan cities.

School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Joseph Ferrandino, Ph.D., and his students will analyze crime statistics and other data collected by the ECPD over the past five years to create a baseline for further study. Ferrandino will continue to map such information as the number of traffic injuries and fatalities, common times of traffic accidents, property damage, personal injury, and other data, and will present his findings at regular meetings with the ECPD.

“The level of expertise and technology that IU Northwest brings to the table is beyond our capability,” said ECPD Chief Mark Becker.

Ultimately, Becker said, this work will enable the department to employ a more proactive policing approach. It will help the department make decisions aimed at improving public safety, reducing traffic incidents, and deploying resources more effectively.

“Once we start getting the data, we can put it into the officers’ hands and empower them,” Becker said. “We can make better decisions about where to patrol, discover more about where the issues lie, and stay a step ahead.”

 This type of analysis is among the many ways the Center for Urban and Regional Excellence helps regional agencies address challenges in Northwest Indiana Communities, according to Ellen Szarleta, Ph.D., J.D., director of the Center and a faculty member in SPEA. The Center works collaboratively with organizations, with particular focus on the government and nonprofit sectors, to advance research, teaching and services.

“IU Northwest is committed to engaging with the community to address priorities and concerns that affect citizens,” Szarleta said. “The Center’s current projects address diverse areas including economic development, government efficiency, nonprofit leadership development, and transportation policy, as well as public safety.”

Becker said he was impressed by the work Ferrandino has done on behalf of the Center with the Gary Police and Fire Departments and the Portage Police Department.

For the past 14 months, Ferrandino has provided mapping and research for the Gary Police Department, which the department uses to make decisions about staffing, policies and more.

Ferrandino’s expertise is not limited to crime mapping, however. The Gary Fire Department has used his maps and analysis to optimize the operations of the city’s emergency responders. Ferrandino’s graduate-level statistics class is currently working on a full analysis of the fire department’s data for the past 10 years. By examining the department’s response times, as well as the concentration of and types of calls, the research is expected to help the department better allocate its resources.

Ferrandino’s crime-mapping expertise and its implications for local law enforcement have garnered national attention. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has asked him to write a two-year grant in support of Project Safe Neighborhoods, for which he will also serve in the role of research consultant. This nationwide program aims to stimulate innovative approaches to dealing with gun and gang violence and will include law enforcement agencies in Gary, East Chicago, Hammond andGrant County, which is the county of Marion, Ind. If accepted, the project would allow police departments in the area to broaden their capabilities and work together in teams to better focus their efforts in high crime areas.

Ferrandino said it is gratifying to put his academic and theoretical background to use in a practical way that directly impacts communities and their residents. He added that working with police and fire departments to map their statistics is important work that he never imagined he’d be able to do from his university post.

“It’s exciting to be involved in the actual policing of a community like East Chicago as opposed to just writing articles about it,” he said.

Shooting involving East Chicago Officer

Chief Mark J. Becker, East Chicago Police Department, today made the following announcement;

At approximately 11:25pm on February 19, 2013, an East Chicago Police Department (ECPD) officer came upon a vehicle traveling in the 4500 block of Euclid and found that the vehicle’s taillights were not operational.  The vehicle appeared to be occupied by at least 3 individuals.

The officer soon learned that the vehicle had been reported stolen earlier that day, from a location in East Chicago.  The officer requested back up units and efforts were then made to curb the vehicle.  Initially, the vehicle began to slow in the area of 144^th and Ivy, but it then drove off and a pursuit ensued, which involved several ECPD units.

The vehicle neared a train crossing near the area of Chicago Avenue and Kennedy, at which time the railroad crossing gate began to drop.  The subjects drove around the gate and it is believed their vehicle then made contact with the gate.  The vehicle then came into contact with an ECPD squad that had been waiting on the other side of the railroad tracks.  As a result, both vehicles were extensively damaged.

Several subjects from the vehicle then began to run from the scene, however, an 18 year old adult, identified as Arturo Gonzalez, was arrested at the scene is being held pending automobile theft charges.

Officers then took part in a foot pursuit involving the other subjects, during which time gunshots were fired by an ECPD Officer.  A short time later, a 17 year old juvenile presented himself at St. Catherine’s Hospital in East Chicago with a gunshot wound to his leg, which he represented happened when an unknown subject attempted to rob him at gunpoint.

Due to the officer involved shooting, coupled with what appears to be a subject shot by the officer, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has been requested to carry out an investigation regarding the officer involved shooting incident. This is an ongoing investigation and the department has no further comment at this time.

2 sentenced to prison time for roles in Imperial Gangsters

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February 15, 2013 7:15 pm  •  Times Staff

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HAMMOND | Two self-professed Imperial Gangsters were sentenced this week as part of an ongoing investigation into local street gang activity, federal court records show.

Guillermo Briseno, 27, of East Chicago, was sentenced this week to 87 months in prison and four years of supervised release for his role in the gang, federal court records show. He pleaded guilty in October to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Alejandro Balboa Lara, 21, was sentenced this week to 22 months in prison and three years of supervised release for his participation in the gang, records state. He pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity.

Briseno and Lara were two of more than a dozen people charged in federal court as part of a murder and drug distribution case focused on the south side of East Chicago.

East Chicago bar shut down by authorities

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7 hours ago  •  Lauri Harvey Keagle lauri.keagle@nwi.com, (219) 852-4311

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EAST CHICAGO | Law enforcement and fire officials on Friday ordered an East Chicago bar closed after citing numerous illegal activities and code violations.

Indiana State Excise Police on Friday night shut down Alexis Hall, 4003 Alder St. after receiving a complaint from a citizen of illegal activities there.

When officers entered the bar around 9:30 p.m., they allegedly found two 16-year-olds and one other minor inside. The juveniles were ticketed for being minors inside a tavern and released to family members, excise police said.

Excise police also cited the bar with two counts of allowing minors to loiter, failure to maintain employee records, employing an unlicensed bartender, not meeting food-service requirements, changing floor plan layout without approval, failure to display permits and purchasing alcohol from another retail business.

The East Chicago Police Department, East Chicago Fire Department and the Lake County Sheriff's Department's Gang Division all assisted with the investigation.

"Indiana State Excise Police will continue to work with city and county law enforcement officers to prevent the procurement of alcohol by minors and take appropriate action when violations of Indiana law are found," Superintendent Matt Strittmatter of the Indiana State Excise Police said in a a statement issued Monday morning.

City Wide Burglaries Report - November/December 2012

In an effort to work together and keep our residents informed we are posting the following information. If you have any information on a crime or suspicious activity please call the Anonymous Tip Line @ 391-8500. 

Chief Becker's Report

Set forth below is a listing of recent burglaries that took place in the city.  A breakdown of those taking place in the Morningside area for all of 2012 is also identified.

E.C. charts fewest murders in decades

EAST CHICAGO | East Chicago charted its fewest murders in almost 40 years last year based on totals reported to the federal government.

Though "three murders are still too many," Police Chief Mark Becker said, that number -- half the homicides from the previous year -- marks a low reported to the the Uniform Crime Report compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A review of police records, as well as those on file with Lake County Coroner Merrilee Frey's office, was conducted dating back to 1975, Becker said, and it was the lowest experienced in 37 years.

Legal definitions of murder and homicide have changed over the years at the city level, Becker said, and prior to 1975 were recorded solely as "deaths" at the county level.

Thirteen murders were reported in East Chicago as recently as 2010.

As noted in the report, the 222 violent crimes in the city in 2012 was a reduction of 13 percent from 2011 totals of 255, with three murders, nine rapes, 90 robberies and 120 aggravated assaults reported in the city of just fewer than 30,000 residents.

Property crimes (1,851) were reported at 5 percent less than in 2011 (1,941) with 594 burglaries listed, 1,064 incidents of larceny, 190 vehicle thefts and three arsons reported.

Total reported crimes of 2,073 in 2012 came in at a 6 percent reduction from 2,196 reported in 2011.

Residents have been a big help, Becker said.

Becker, who previously was the Portage police chief, was sworn in as the city's top law enforcement officer one year ago. 

He also served 32 years with the FBI, ultimately as senior supervisory resident agent for Northwest Indiana.

Aggressive community outreach by police in the neighborhoods has shown people that law enforcement officers are there to help, he said, and residents are more likely to call in if they see see a crime being committed or something suspicious.

Also helpful, Becker said, has been the U.S. Department of Justice, which has locked up more than 35 gang members in the last two years who accounted for much of the neighborhood crime in East Chicago.

"I think we're headed in the right direction," Becker said.

Crime reduced in East Chicago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 1, 2013

9:00 am

Mark J. Becker, Chief of Police, made the following release:

I am pleased to report the totals of both violent crime and property crime occurrences that were reported to the East Chicago Police Department in 2012 and subsequently submitted to the FBI for inclusion in their Uniform Crime Report (UCR) 

A break down and total for each of the 8 crimes that consist of the FBI’s UCR report are as follows:

Violent Crimes (222) A reduction of 13% from 2011 total (255)

• Murder -3
• Rape- 9
• Robbery – 90
• Aggravated Assault – 120

Property Crimes (1,851) A reduction of 5% from 2011 total (1,941)

• Burglary – 594
• Larceny – 1,064
• Vehicle Theft – 190
• Arson - 3

Total Crimes (2,073) A reduction of 6% from 2011 total (2,196)

A review of our records, as well as those on file with Coroner Merrilee Frey’s office, was conducted dating back to 1975.  The Coroner’s staff assisted in a review of their records, which determined that the 3 murders reported in 2012 are the lowest experienced in at least the past 37 years. Records regarding murder totals for East Chicago prior to 1975 were not available. The total crime reported to the city (2,073) is the lowest number in over 12 years.   

Chief Becker commended all members of the police department for the reduction in crime this past year and also noted that increased interaction with the public is also to be credited in reducing as well as solving the crimes that took place