COMMUNITY BIKE RIDE TAKES PLACE ON SOUTH SIDE TO HELP CURB CRIME

Think Outside Da Block recently hosted their third annual Roll N Peace bike ride in Englewood to address crime and advocate for peace. Photo Credit: Think Outside Da Block
Think Outside Da Block recently hosted their third annual Roll N Peace bike ride in Englewood to address crime and advocate for peace. Photo Credit: Think Outside Da Block

COMMUNITY BIKE RIDE TAKES PLACE ON SOUTH SIDE TO HELP CURB CRIME

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

A massive group of bike riders recently took to the streets of Englewood for an eight-mile ride through the neighborhood for Think Outside Da Block’s third annual Roll N Peace event. The purpose of the bike ride was to bring together neighbors, stakeholders, and 7th District police officers to tour the neighborhood and create a safer community.

Think Outside Da Block is a nonprofit organization that supports youth in the Englewood community through productive activities and communication, according to their website.

“Roll N Peace is a critical mass bike tour through the Englewood community that came about from the Englewood Quality of Life Plan Public Safety Task Force,” said Lyana Funches, vice president of Think Outside Da Block.

A critical mass bike ride is when a large group of cyclists gather to ride through a specific neighborhood or city together. In this case, Think Outside Da Block has organized a critical mass ride through Englewood for the purpose of addressing crime, according to Funches.

“We ride our bikes a lot, but you never hear about something like this transpiring in this type of neighborhood because the stereotype is typically that it’s too dangerous,” said Funches. “This bike ride was an innovative way to make sure that we show that these things are possible in every neighborhood.”

A local bike-share company, Divvy, donated 100 blue bikes to the Roll N Peace event for people who didn’t have their own to ride.

The bike ride was supported by TIME 21:36, a crime reduction initiative in Englewood, which originally launched in 2018 thanks to a $1 million grant that the Englewood Quality of Life Plan received from the Department of Justice to support their Public Saftey Task Force. TIME stands for This Is My Englewood and 21:36 represents the 60621 and 60636 zip codes that encompass the greater Englewood community.

TIME 21:36 is a strategic approach to crime reduction that utilizes the resources and expertise of community stakeholders to create a safer neighborhood, according to information provided by Think Outside Da Block.

“The Department of Justice’s plan is to allow the community to be the agent of change for what’s transpiring,” said Funches. “We partnered with them to launch the initiative because its full purpose is to reduce crime.”

This is the third year that the Roll N Peace bike ride has taken place and Funches said that Englewood has seen a reduction in crime every night that they have hosted the critical mass bike ride.

“We have noticed that when the community is present in an area, crime decreases. So, whenever that presence is around, there is no crime because people don’t want to be seen committing those crimes,” said Funches. “We’re trying to reclaim our neighborhoods to make sure that people understand this is ours and the only people that have the capacity to create change are us.”

To learn more about Think Outside Da Block visit www.thinkoutsidedablock.org.

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