DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – A young father who was gunned down in the streets of Decatur Thursday was attending a pop-up block party, according to police. The shooting death was the fear of many in the area.
"Many individuals are calling, and are e-mailing about block parties,” Decatur city councilman David Horn said.
For more than a week, community leaders have been reaching out to Horn and WAND News expressing concerns over recent pop-up block parties. Horn said people have told him the parties start late at night and continue early into the next morning.
"At minimum, they are a nuisance to the individuals to those who live in this neighborhood,” Horn said.
According to Horn, the complaints have come from two primary areas. One of them is a large convenience store parking lot near Wood and Jasper and the other is in front of a Decatur bar, Flashback Lounge.
Deputy Chief of the Decatur Police Department Shane Brandel said the pop-up parties are something authorities “have been dealing with… for decades."
Brandel said his department is working to end the parties, especially as they move into neighborhoods, but to accomplish the goal, he needs the community’s help.
"What we need to do is work with those businesses to help us when those crowds arrive,” Brandel said. “What do we have to do to get them to want to leave. As long as we get cooperation with the businesses, we usually get success."
Dispersing the crowds is a start, but for Brandel, it only pushes the crowd to another location. Instead “what we can do is come together business owners, resident in those areas and share each other concerns b/c both sides may have concerns and work together on solutions".
Decatur police told WAND News they have implemented new strategies to handle block parties and they seem to be working.
So far in 2021, shootings are up 30% from 2020. In 2020, the entire year saw a 100% increase in shootings.
