'Officer Nunzio' and friend - Chicago Cop.com

Lockup Keeper Officer Medard
Giersch and Detention Aide Leonardo
Vega.
Officer Robert Watz hands form to
Myrna Tosado.
enue on the South.
While most of the district is residential,
there is some manufacturing, severallargeshopping
areas, including the
famous Six-Corners at Irving Park, Cicero
and Milwaukee which was the site of
the Jefferson Townhall in the 1800's
housing the Police and Fire Departments
as well as the Jefferson Park
High School.
Two hospitals, Resurrection and the
Northwest, are situated here as well as
the Jefferson Park terminal, the second
largest in the City with facilities for
CTA, elevated and bus service; the Northwest
Railroad and suburban buses. It
also has five high schools, 47 elementary
schools, two golfcourses, two large
mental health facilities and many acres
of forest preserves.
"Auto theft and burglary are the
biggest crime problems in the district,"
Commander Cooney said. "However,
the calls most often received from citizens
are those having to do with disturb.:mces,
mostly young people drinking
in the parks resulting in vandalism."
The 16th District is one ofseveral still
6 Chicago Police Star July 1978
Officer Robert Peterson talks to Irving Goto, supervisor of Portage Park pool.
Officers Robert Zalesny and John Tobler
find some humor in a report.
awaiting funding for the Beat Representative
Program. When funded, the
district will have a store-front center
staffed with four paid employees-a
coordinator and three assistants-to
help area residents with problems and
disseminate information.
Meanwhile, the 16th District operates
a Beat Representative Program
with a volunteer staff, 95 beat representatives
and 45 block captains.
Neighborhood Relations Sergeant
James Castellano who acts as liaison
between the police and beat representatives
credits participants ofthe program
with the recent arrest of a con-artist
who was preying on elderly citizens.
"We received information about a
suspect who was swindling senior citizens
by talking them into taking their
savings out of a local bank and turning
them over to him" Castellano said.
A flier telling residents about the
scheme was printed. With the help of
beat representatives and block captains
the flier was distributed to all the banks
and savings and loan associations in the
District. "Sure enough the man walked
into a bank and was recognized by a
teller, who called the bank's security
head and the two stalled him until
police arrived on the scene to arrest
him," Castellano added.
Commander Cooney, who also
praised the program, said: "I feel the
program has helped here in the 16th
District. While the types of crimes we
experience are not as serious as those in
some of the other areas of the city, we
still need the cooperation of all citizens
in our efforts to reduce and prevent
crime."
Officer Paul Petrowsky fills out report
for Secretary Sylvia LaPlante.