COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

community they began an onslaught of redevelopment initiatives that impacted the low-
income. Other residents defended the liquor stores and argued they were businesses that
enhanced the community of Oak Park. Tension between the middle-class and lower-
income residents increased as redevelopment initiatives and increased police patrol
moved forward in Oak Park.
Police Patrol in the Neighborhood
Alongside efforts to revitalize the neighborhood, other characteristics typical of a
gentrifying community, are also occurring. Police have increased their presence, as
middle-class residents attend neighborhood meetings and insist that there be more police
to patrol the neighborhood. At Neighborhood Association meetings middle-class
residents expressed they feel unsafe in their neighborhood because the crime rate is high,
there are many drug houses, and a large quantity of prostitutes. These residents argue
drug users burglarize homes and cars to sustain their drug use and they dispose of used
needles in vacant lots, alleys, and neighborhood garbage bins. Likewise, they hang out
and walk around the neighborhood inebriated. Because drugs are prevalent in the
neighborhood, many residents feel that police should increase their presence and arrest
drug users. From their perspective, people who engage in petty crime in the
neighborhood are irresponsible and untrustworthy because they are unemployed and
choose petty crime to sustain themselves. Thus, they should be punished and arrested for
their behavior. Residents explain that cleaning the streets of drug users will allow them
to feel safe in their neighborhood because they won’t have to worry about their property
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