Armed robbery in Fulton Market District prompts talks with Chicago police to improve safety
After a violent armed robbery in the Fulton Market District last week, residents demanded answers from Chicago police at a safety meeting on Thursday night.
From car break-ins to armed robberies, people who call the Near West Side neighborhood home wanted to know what police are doing everything to keep them safe and keep the crooks away.
A passing 'L' train is usually one of the loudest things in Fulton Market, but since video surfaced of an armed crew robbing a man in broad daylight last week, the uproar has been about public safety.
"You can never be too safe, whether it's broad daylight, 2:30 in the afternoon, or 2:30 a.m.," said Lisa Miller, who works in the area.
Thursday night, officers from CPD's 12th District were in attendance, and they answered questions from people who live and work in Fulton Market and are concerned about safety.
"It shows they care, right?," Miller said. "The last thing they want to do is investigate a crime against me. So, everything they can do to help make me safer, the neighborhood safer, other residents safer, I think it's good for the city."
In the Near West Side neighborhood, which includes the Fulton Market District, so far this year there have 72 violent crimes as of Feb. 13, including 21 robberies, 2 homicides, 9 sexual assaults, and 40 aggravated assaults and batteries.
"It's community talking to the police. That's the best way to fight crime," said Roger Romanelli, executive director of the Fulton Market Association.
Romanelli said he wants to get the crime numbers lower. He's pushing to get 50 new police pod cameras installed in the area.
"We want a network of cameras down here; state of art. So, if you're a criminal you come down here you know you know you're going to be on camera and you know you're going to get caught," he said.
Data analyzed by CBS News Chicago showed, in 2025, there were 771 violent crimes in the neighborhood, a 27% crop from 2024, when there were 1.055 violent crimes.
"When you have a vulnerable person at 4 o'clock in the afternoon standing on the sidewalk, guns come out, and he's on the ground, that could've been any of us. So, we all have to pause and say that must never happen again," Romanelli said.
The association is calling on the alderman to work with them to get the network of cameras.
Police are still looking for that crew in brazen armed robbery.
