Chicago Housing Authority Police Department
| Chicago Housing Authority Police Department | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | CHAPD |
Patch of the Chicago Housing Authority Police Department
|
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | October 30, 1989 |
| Dissolved | October 29, 1999 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | City of Chicago in the state of Illinois, U.S. |
| Legal jurisdiction | Chicago Public Housing Developments |
| Governing body | Chicago Housing Authority |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Facilities | |
| CHA Buildings | 365 W. Oak St. (Cabrini-Green Homes) 4848 S. State St. (Robert Taylor Homes) 4947 S. Federal St. (Robert Taylor Homes) 754 E. 37th Pl. (Ida B. Wells Homes) 1010 E. 132nd St. (Altgeld Gardens) |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The Chicago Housing Authority Police Department (also known as the CHAPD) was created as a supplement to the Chicago Police Department (CPD), to provide dedicated police services to the residents of one of the nation's most impoverished and crime ridden developments for low-income housing. It existed from October 30, 1989, to October 29, 1999. The CHAPD accomplished their daily goals by utilizing "community oriented policing techniques and aggressive vertical patrol" of all Chicago Housing Authority public housing projects throughout the inner city of Chicago, Illinois and some suburban areas.
The CHAPD was envisioned by Vince Lane, who had served as Chairman and Executive Director of the CHA from May 23, 1987 to May 26, 1995. During a television interview, Lane recalled how as a child he marveled at how well kept public housing was and remembered being envious of the conveniences residents enjoyed. As Chairman, Lane took a personal stance in rectifying the safety and living conditions of the residents by ushering in the repair of dilapidated low and high-rise buildings, combined with improved protective services for the inhabitants. Ensuring that his plan came to fruition did not come without obstacles. Lane's plan was in opposition to the Mayor's Advisory Council's report, which was printed by the Chicago Tribune in July 1988, and called for the razing of 8,000 units of family high-rise buildings over a ten-year period.
Complaints from the residents about the lack of police protection and presence of the Chicago Police Department, as well as the documented concerns of CPD officers who felt patrolling public housing was unsafe and dreaded answering calls for service there, went unanswered by the mayor, but were a major concern of Lane's.
Vince Lane's solution to combat the rampant gang-related drug sales and crime was to create his own police department to work within the system of the Chicago Police, but unhampered by the boundaries of CPD's assigned districts. Since public housing was spread throughout various neighborhoods and local suburbs, the CHAPD was endowed with a broader jurisdiction.
Previously the federal government paid the City of Chicago 13 million dollars a year for extra patrols to provide adequate protection for the residents of the CHA. The city posted CPD units within the building at 365 W. Oak Street for (Public Housing North) and 4848 S. State Street for (Public Housing South) almost twenty years prior to the coming of housing’s own police. CHAPD's first station was located at 4947 S. Federal Street in CPD's 2nd District, which was also known as the "Deuce".
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