Boystown residents debate violence, loitering and gay youth

http://chicago.gopride.com/news/article.cfm/articleid/20277049

Chicago, IL — 44th Ward Alderman Tom Tunney and 23rd District Commander Kathleen Boehmer addressed resident concerns over neighborhood violence during a packed Community Alternative Policing meeting on Wednesday night.

Residents of the North Side neighborhood, which is the central hub to Chicago's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, have grown increasingly alarmed after a video of a man being beaten and stabbed hit the Internet earlier this week.

As Gender JUST protested outside, a crowd estimated at over 500 people, ranging from neighborhood residents, business owners and patrons, LGBT gay youth and their supporters and Chicago media, packed into the auditorium of the Inter-American Elementary School, 851 W. Waveland Ave.

The meeting was opened by Chicago Police Sgt. Beth Giltmier, who lead the discussion. Tunney read a statement he issued earlier in the day, where he called on Chicago Police to create a special "entertainment detail" to assist beat police in congested entertainment districts, including Boystown.