typical of what is happening in Homewood.. there is an element moving in, and all the good families are moving out. I moved here to get away from this nonsense.. may be packing up again

<<Police told the youths, whom they described as uncooperative, to return to their homes>>
Arrest them for disorderly conduct and disobeying a lawful police order. Have a high bail set and let them spend a couple days in lockup. If there are no real consequences --seriously, a municipal ticket? -- this will only get worse.....

I got in more trouble for a speeding ticket last month - having to go to the courthouse to fix a mistake on my license, pay $167 and take a traffic school class - and these kids get slapped on the wrist for domestic violence which should be a mandatory night in jail, a court hearing, court fees and supervsion (ETC.) and a whopping by their moms? Seriously. I agree with Juvenal. There was no punishment and no consequence. They'll be at it again by the weekend.

Can someone who saw the fight please identify the "gangs" fighting? Or was it a bunch of minority kids fighting and it was assumed they are gang members because they are minorities? Also to address the comments about arresting them spending time in jail, this is Cook County. A juvenile offender in Cook County needs to commit a major felony in order to be held in jail or have several violations. The county does not have the resources to detain juveniles for fights where there are no injuries. Call your Congressman on that but don't blame the Homewood police.

There are absolute, definate gang issues within the village of Homewood. These issues need to be addressed and taken very seriously by both the authorities and residents. I have reported within the last 2 years minimum 8 different occasions, known gun shot episodes. I see gang signs and colors all walking all over Homewood. Homewood is a well known opportune place for diversity, now lets add some integrity and make Homewood truly "Home Sweet Homewood" our safe village home.

I was involved in more than one fight that involved more than a couple of people when I was in high school. Police eventually came by on at least one occasion but knowone ever said we were involved in gang activity. We were just dumb kids doing dumb things. Is there any evidence of this being anymore than that? If not than it's just dumb ass kids being dumb ass kids.

Ladydemo-could you please be more specific when you say "I see gang signs and colors all walking all over Homewood"? Which colors and which gangs are being represented? You seem very knowledgeble on this subject so I am assuming you can name the gang. SouthSide- do you know the kids involved in this particular incident? Again, which colors and which gangs are they associated with? What are the gang signs they are throwing up? Maybe if we can educate the community about which gangs we have so we can all be more aware and more vigilant.

THEY CLAIM TO BE BLACK STONES AND GD WHICH ARE RED AND BLACK, GD IS BLUE AND BLACK!

ME,

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We don't have to be rude about this, but I agree, we should be informed if there are legitimate gang signs (colors, throwing signs, etc.). Maybe the police could confirm or deny the suspicions? I can't believe they wouldn't know if this looked like a stupid kid fight vs. a gang-related occurrence. We should all want to keep Homewood safe, and by that we need to look out for each other and our neighborhood. Not criticize or leave it.

Friday night I definatly heard gun shots at 1:09 am. I doubted myself at first, thought maybe fireworks since it is close to the 4th. I am not sure what to do when I hear them. This is not the first time I have heard them. Do I call the police? I live by isacc walton.

This is why I am moving... Sadly the area has changed alot, businesses are closing down and moving out of area. Sure we have some positives, like new restaurants coming into Homewood but it is not the same as it was 10 yrs ago. Last nite my son's father was picking him up, as he drove down Harwood Ave a little past Aurelio's, his vehicle was rocked. He was startled and though it was gunfire so he sped off, his car has extensive damage but he did not want to file report. It comes down to Parents monitoring their kids!

WOW my husband and I were contemplating buying a home in homewood as a new married couple and after reading these comments we may have to give it a second thought :-(

BlackHawks Fan, He was in a hurry to get to work and he does not want to cause any problems! I agree but to each their own!

@Mom of 2. I am obviously moving out in 2 weeks and I really do not care to stir the pot! Every community has problem but it has changed, to where I do not care to live here any longer! I am not responsible for what someone else's kids do and not reporting it does not make me a bad person! I do not need to explain anything to you. My vehicle got broken into twice! I almost got robbed at an undisclosed location w/ my 2 yr old! And my bike w/ my baby seat in back got stolen at Cherry creek! I don't think I need to go on!!! Have a nice day!! =)

Oh I am sorry resident 4, it wasn't obvious to me you were moving in 2 weeks.... I am sorry you are leaving with such a bad tast in your mouth and your correct, you don't have to explain anything to me. However keep in mind (in your new town) a community is only as good as its residents. Not repoting crimes (allowing someone to get away with them) sends the message to the criminal "Hey, its ok to do that stuff in Homewood, we are not going to do anything about it" .

I have lived in Homewood for 15 years and Flossmoor for the 6 years prior, my car was once broken into.... that is all and could have happened anywhere.

I would love more information. It seems there are a lot of assumptions being made. What were the weapons the kids were carrying? How do we know this is gang activity? Then, if it is gang activity, what can we do to remedy the problem? Anyone have any ideas on how to get involved and make a change for the better of the community?

"The area has changed a lot..." code for too many non-white faces. We are better off without you, resident 4. Why did you bother posting this negative comment if you are leaving in 2 weeks? I love Homewood and encourage any young family to move here.

Wouldn't pay attention to it too much. Most of these kids are just posers trying to make themselves feel tough and conform to what they see on TV and hear from their sources of media. Sending them to jail isn't going to do anything but make them feel like they've got some street credit or something. I know kids like this. They talk a lot but when its time to play hardball they get scared and usually do something stupid like this. Want these kids to learn a lesson I say make them do some hard labor with a tough drill instructor yelling at them the whole time. These kids need discipline. I go in and out of Chicago everyday and I've been through some tough neighborhoods at night on my own and believe me I know a gang when I see one and I've never seen a real gang in Homewood. They're a bunch of phonies who commit petty crimes and they won't go any further than that. It was just a fight and like all fights people want to watch because they think its "cool". Wouldn't worry about this.

As I read this board I feel like I am reading about Harvey. IF crime, gangs, and youth violence are such a big issue that people are moving out then why did that not come up in the questions to Mayor Hofeld? I LOVE that people are asking if we can raise chickens in Homewood because to me that indicates that people feel safe. I think that 95% of the people of Homewood are good, educated, professional, hard working people and it is the 5% that we are talking about now but they exsist in other communities to. Does anyone else read the Patches from other communities in the south and southwest suburbs? I do and it seems the same things are occuring in their communities as well. I love Homewood, the schools, the park districts and ALL of the people. I am very happy here and have not once in the past 9 years since I moved here have considered leaving. Maybe it is time to get a statement from the police chief to address this fight and some of the other efforts he and his department are making to help manage whatever crime problems we do have.

Mom of 2- Obviously you are hiding under a rock if you think there is nothing going on in our schools. Did you forget about the "initiation incident" at James Hart???
Needless to say I have driven down Jonathan and have run into this group of kids... and I would have to say it is overwhelming to see a group of 15 plus kids standing in the street and not want to move out of the way. You can call the police but then they ask what the problem is... they apparently do not know that Homewood has an ordinance about walking and standing in the streets.
I do have to say that i agree with someone else on here that we should not back down but at the same time if you call the police and their response is "what would you like us to do?" then what is the point?

I have a suggestion for the residents of the Churchill School neighborhood. Organize a neighborhood meeting. Get everyone involved. Have a representative from the Police Department attend. Invite the Mayor. I'm sure Mr. Hofeld would attend. Sit down with your neighbors and get to know them. In a respectfully and polite manner express your concerns and most importantly offer positive ideas and solutions on how to improve your neighborhood. You control the destiny of your neighborhood. "United we stand divided we fall"
Also this summer organize a neighborhood picnic, have a barbeque, have games for the kids, and most importantly get to know your neighbors.
Homewoods a great town!!!!. Lets keep it that way

There is a community meeting planned for Monday, June 11th at 7PM at the Village Hall. Please plan to attend. Hear the facts of what really happened. Get information on how we can stand together to preserve our neighborhood and ensure safety for our children.

Thank you Renee!

While a lot of these kids might be "posers", a lot of them are wearing the gang apparel, those over sized sports team caps with the hologram for teams that we do not have here, some of them might be mistaken for real gang members and get shot.
I have also seen the graffiti. We live too close to Chicago Heights, Glenwood nd Harvey not to have some gang activity here in Homewood.

Ok, you people jumping on the "Homewood is going bad" bandwagon, KNOCK IT OFF. I actually live in Homewood, I know for a fact that, rather than getting worse, Homewood has been getting better in the last few years. The recession, for whatever reason, has strengthened the village - if anything, people in Homewood appreciate what they have more now than they did before, and they're protective of their village. Homewood isn't a town that turns a blind eye to bad behavior - quite the opposite. As for gang activity - you'd be hard pressed to find a tag in Homewood. Now don't all you people who happen to know where a tag is go and start barking about it - maybe you could go clean it off instead.

People hearing gunshots? You need to relax. Firecrackers. Seriously.

I agree with the comments ABOUT (not by) "Resident 4". Black People DOES NOT EQUAL Gangs, or Crime. I'm white, and I've consistently been struck by how well different races get along in Homewood, and I'm proud whenever I see on the news how different it is in other places in the country. Nobody's going to get shot for wearing a hoodie in Homewood, and that's fantastic. We've got upper class blacks, upper class whites, middle class blacks, and middle class whites, and we've got hooligan blacks, and hooligan whites. So maybe we can knock off the scaremongering, and the paranoia, and the "I told you so" racism. Look at this town - it's great. Admit and fix real problems. But no more "Homewood is changing" garbage.

How about the drug addicts that walk up and down my street? Do you have an excuse for that too?