"How do you build a community of people who come from different places and react to the same experiences differently?" Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) said. "The danger we face is not building one community." Uptown statistics coincides with a broader trend in city crime that saw a 2 percent increase in violence in the first seven months of 2008 when compared to the same period last year, and an 18 percent jump in homicides and a 6 percent increase in robberies. Uptown has one of the cities highest population of Whites, Blacks and Latinos Southeast Asians and American Indians about which 63,000 people benefit from Chicago social services and are low-income residents. At Senn High School, students speak 65 languages.
Battles for gang leadership in the lakefront neighborhood have upset that delicate balance, fueling a political standoff between poor renters against professionals homeowners which many fear will destroy the future of Chicago's most diverse neighborhood. Police statistics for Uptown show murders, aggravated assaults, burglaries, rapes and robberies, have been down over the last eight years. Over the last two years, police say the neighborhood's main gangs—franchises the Gangster Disciples, Conservative Vice Lords and Black P Stones have learned to cooperate with their criminal endeavors sharing street corners, living in the same buildings and often are arrested in the same cars, Town Hall District Tactical Lt. Robert Stasch said. Current police operations have targeted gang leadership and their drug trade, specifically the Black Stones, the most recent operation ended in mid-July Town Hall District Cmdr. Kathleen Boehmer said. The recent power vacuum kicked off this summer has sparked fights for street cred among young members and is being played out on residential blocks in plain view of the public.
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