BRONZEVILLE — Neighbors heading to 31st Street Beach this summer should expect to see more police patrolling the area, Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th) said at a recent ward town hall.
At the May 3 meeting, the alderman shared some of the strategy his office is working on with the 2nd (Wentworth) Police District ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
The area has seen multiple violent disturbances in recent years, most of them occurring after 11 p.m., when the beach closes. Extra steps for security have been taken before: After a spate of shootings in 2024, the city imposed a 10-day curfew during which the beach’s closing time was moved from 11 p.m. to 8 p.m., and city officials and violence prevention groups temporarily implemented bag checks and beefed-up security.
The beach has also been a preferred destination for the city’s teens, many of them meeting there for large group gatherings often referred to as “takeovers.”
Robinson did not immediately say if the bag checks will return, but he said police will continue their practice of ticketing and towing vehicles left along roads near the beach, saying the measure has been keeping residents safer.
A lift gate was also installed near the beach entrance, and drivers now pay upon entry, a measure that had been previously unenforced.
To make exits easier for boaters leaving special events like firework displays, Robinson plans to coordinate with the Park District and the local marina to adjust the 31st Street Beach gate’s closing time on Saturdays so they can leave before the gates are locked, he said.
Robinson said he’s hired a handful of teens leading the takeovers to work at his ward office each summer. His office hosted a teen summit at Kenwood Academy on Friday to talk about the teen gatherings while offering resources in the 4th Ward and beyond, including summer jobs through Chicago Youth Works.
“This notion that there are no resources for our teens is ludicrous, but I believe that our young people don’t know, and so that’s where I come in. We want to make sure that we get them the information,” Robinson said.
While 2025 saw a sharp decline in violent crime locally and nationally, numbers have been trending up since the beginning of the year, with Chicago police recording 421 shootings as of the start of May, WTTW Chicago reported.
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