What the Springfield police chief called a historic infusion of state cash for crime prevention and community outreach will include $645,000 for a “teen empowerment zone” on the east side and expanded coverage for the ShotSpotter program.
“We see this as an opportunity to be proactive in how we deal with violent crime reduction and prevention, and also how we can become involved and more engaged in our community,” Chief Ken Scarlette told Illinois Times.
The Springfield City Council accepted the grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity on June 20 in an ordinance approved 11-0 that outlined both general and specific uses for the money.
The $3 million to the police department was included in the state budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30. The money was included in the budget at the request of state Sen. Doris Turner, D-Springfield, a former Ward 3 alderperson.
The city was able to receive state approval to use the money in fiscal 2024, which begins July 1, 2023, and runs through June 30, 2024, Scarlette said.
Specific plans for the $645,000 haven’t been determined yet, according to Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory. He has spearheaded efforts to create new recreational and educational opportunities for youth in a part of the east side dubbed a teen empowerment zone.
Gregory said the money would be used for after-school and summertime programming costs in the zone, which includes Comer Cox Park, Chamberlain Park and the nearby former campus of United Cerebral Palsy Land of Lincoln.
A community center for youth is planned for the former UCP campus at 130 N. 16th St. and 1415 E. Jefferson St. The city bought both properties in 2022 for about $400,000, Gregory said.
The City Council is paying John Shafer & Associates $98,000 to come up with renovation plans for the North 16th Street property, and the city has commissioned University of Illinois Springfield to study options for operating the proposed center, including joint efforts with Springfield nonprofits.
Expected renovation costs at the 16th Street site are more than $900,000.
Gregory said he hopes the community center, in one of the buildings on the former UCP campus, can open by spring 2024.
Expanding the coverage area of ShotSpotter surveillance technology to detect gunshots and help solve crimes will add two square miles to the current 4.25 square miles being monitored on parts of the city’s east and north sides, Scarlette said.
The police department doesn’t disclose the specific neighborhoods involved in the program. Springfield’s three-year contract with ShotSpotter, now provided by SoundThinking Inc., a publicly traded company based in California, is expected to be renewed in July at an annual cost of $290,000.
A MacArthur Justice Center study of ShotSpotter’s use in Chicago found fault with the program, saying the “vast majority of alerts generated by the system turn up no evidence of gunfire or any gun-related crime. Instead, the ShotSpotter system sends police on thousands of unfounded and high-intensity deployments, which are focused almost exclusively in Black and Latinx communities.”
However, Scarlette said ShotSpotter has helped police in Springfield respond to gun-related crimes.
ShotSpotter and license-plate readers are part of “multiple layers of technology that allow us to begin to solve these crimes … and have increased success when it comes to not only investigating these crimes but holding individuals responsible,” he said.
Plans for the $3 million include a range of services, technology, events and training. Include are:
*$500,000 for two more ShotSpotter Community Connections events in neighborhoods. The first Connections event was held on the east side in October 2022.
Scarlette said community engagement is even more important for police in building trust amid social unrest in Springfield and the rest of the country after the 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and other police-involved deaths.
*$260,000 for additional police body cameras as required by the Illinois SAFE-T Act, which stands for Safety and Accountability for Everyone – Technology Act.
*$180,000 for three additional mobile Sky-Watch camera monitoring systems.
*$100,000 for the RING Doorbell Initiative.
*$60,000 for a 3D training simulator and deployment trailer.
*$50,000 for a Fix It program to provide gift cards to local auto care shops when officers stop cars for minor vehicle infractions so tickets don’t have to be issued.
*$100,000 for “fair and impartial police training.”
*$100,000 for the Springfield Cadet Recruitment Program.
*$100,000 for the Springfield Police Department Internship Program.
*$105,000 for marketing and a project coordinator and software.
*$20,000 for sports-related programs in the community, coordinated by Officer Mike Newman.
*$5,000 for Cooking With A Cop, spearheaded by Officer Timara Pflug, and $5,000 for Pflug’s Dollhouse Project, which gives away dollhouses to at-risk girls.
*$5,000 to expand Officer Lamar Moore’s school backpack giveaway program.
Dean Olsen is a senior staff writer at Illinois Times. He can be reached at dolsen@illinoistimes.com, 217-679-7810 or twitter.com/DeanOlsenIT.
This article appears in Grillin’ and Chillin’ 2023.
