Police response to Rogers Park violence now includes helicopters

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Chicago police are patrol by air in one North Side community. Helicopters are now being used in Rogers Park as part of a new tactic to beef up police presence there.

Deploying a police helicopter to fight crime is nothing new in Chicago - it has been conducting video surveillance in the city since 2006. But it is new in Rogers Park, where recently there has been an increase in crime.

Rogers Park is a neighborhood known to be multicultural and multi-generational, yet lately, it has been known for an increase in crime. It's something that high school senior Emrah Cangundogdu is certainly aware of.

"I feel safe in the school, but once I get outside, I don't feel safe," said Cangundogdu.

Shootings are up this year in Rogers Park. Last week, a 19-year-old was shot to death on the 1600-block of West Juneway, and 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore will never forget the shooting he witnessed last July when photographer Wil Lewis was killed by a stray bullet on Devon Avenue.

As a result of the increased crime, Moore says police have stepped up patrols.

"They are engaging in some creative strategies to stem the violence and one of those strategies is to use the police helicopter, like a patrol car in the air," said Moore.

Moore says the helicopter is used not only in his ward, but other North Side neighborhoods as well.

"I don't view the helicopter as something that is a permanent fixture on the city's North Side, but given the violence we've experienced this summer, we want to make sure that we stem this right now and prevent it from becoming more ingrained in our community," said Moore.

Moore and other community activists say the spike in crime comes from two factions of the same gang fighting each other. Howard Street includes their turf, but community activist Bernard Garbo is confident gang violence will slow down. Garbo is the founder of a neighborhood safety group called Network 24/24. He says neighbors are slowly pushing the gangs away.

"I really feel this is the last hurrah for this gang because they are seeing their territory ever diminishing in size, and so they are desperately fighting for what little turf they have," said Garbo.

Ald. Moore is confident that increased patrols and neighborhood efforts can help curb the violence. Though, he says it's certainly more safe in Rogers Park now than it was 25 years ago.