■
Community members want Rep. LaShawn Ford to run for mayor
PAGE 11
FREE Vol. 36 No. 33
August 17, 2022
■
Also serving Garfield Park
West Side groups get share of $75M anti-violence grants
Cook County is funding 37 community groups to scale up programs that ‘address the root causes of violence and crime,’ Preckwinkle said By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
West and South side groups are in line for millions in funding as county officials funnel $75 million into violence prevention services in neighborhoods hit hardest by gun violence. The Gun Violence and Prevention grants were designed by the county’s Justice Advisory Council as an answer to the increase in shootings since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Though violent crime had been falling since 2016 in Chicago, the pandemic ushered in a wave of instability that made 2021 the deadliest year in decades, police data shows. “Challenges that were already present due to racism and historic disinvestment were ampliSee ANTI-VIOLENCE on page 3
■
austinweeklynews.com
@AustinWeeklyNews
@austinweeklynews
@AustinWeeklyChi
W t Side West Sid SSchool h l pushes for bike lessons, page 9
Cops underreporting arrests of Blacks after traffic stops
Block Club, Injustice Watch analysis found thousands of missing traffic stops ending in gun possession arrests in data CPD must report to state COLIN BOYLE/Block Club Chicago
Shelbert Ramsey poses for a portrait after finishing his midnight shift at an Austin restaurant just before 6 a.m. July 29, 2022. Ramsey was arrested by Chicago police offi cers on a gun-possession charge after a traffic stop that wasn’t reported to state regulators. The charges were later dropped. By PASCAL SABINO Block Club Chicago
This story is part of a series looking at gun possession arrests and prosecutions in Cook County, published in partnership with Injustice Watch and The Circuit. Read the first story here. MY PEDIATRICIAN GAVE ME CONFIDENCE ABOUT VACCINATING MY CHILD
West Sider Shelbert Ramsey never thought a simple traffic stop could leave him in a desperate legal fight to stay out of prison. Ramsey, 37, was driving through West Garfield Park one afternoon last summer when he saw an old friend and pulled over briefly to say hello, he said. When he pulled away a few seconds later, he saw police lights flashing behind him.
“Their reason for pulling me over was for obstruction of traffic. There was no one behind me, no one around me. There was no traffic at all,” Ramsey said. “I feel they pulled me over illegally, and they were making up excuses [to search me].” Ramsey said the officers asked him to get out of the car and searched the See TRAFFIC STOPS on page 6
UMI B.
CHI.GOV/REALSTORIES