The recent roundup of 47 alleged members of two street gangs has led to a drastic reduction in gang-related crime, according to Joliet police.
Since the sweep began in the second week of December, there was only one gang-related shooting in the rest of the month compared with seven such incidents in the first week of the month, said Deputy Chief Dave Gerdes.
Gerdes spoke at the City Council’s Public Safety Committee meeting Thursday, giving an update on the effects of the sweep.
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Overall, there were nine people wounded in the 28 shootings attributed to gangs in November, but only two were wounded in December, and those took place before the sweep began.
On Dec. 23, Will County State’s Atty. James Glasgow announced the indictment of more than 40 people in connection with three gang-related murders, including the death of a bedridden 91-year-old woman who was trapped in her bedroom during a firebombing.
Glasgow said the roundup had crippled the leadership of two of the four street gangs.
Most recently, a suspect in the Oct. 31 gang-related murder of a 31-year-old Joliet man turned himself in to police Tuesday and is being held in lieu of $2 million bond in the Will County Jail.
Phillip J. Backstrom, 20, of Joliet, was charged with first-degree murder last month in the death of Paul Williams, who was killed on Collins Street by a shotgun blast on Halloween after being caught in the middle of a gang dispute, authorities said.