In the Squad Room - Training Day
Every week, Linda Hansen attends the Evanston Police Department’s Deployment Meetings, takes notes on various topics and writes about other police-related matters of interest to ordinary citizens like her.
This
week’s deployment meeting was sparsely attended compared to most weeks. Chief Eddington was called away on other
business, the Crime Analyst wasn’t able to attend and a couple other members of the command staff were at training. Present,
however, was Commander Joe Dugan, recently returned after graduating from the 10-week
FBI National Academy Program in Quantico. Dugan is the fourth EPD sworn officer to
attend the program - alumni include Chief Eddington, Deputy Chief Jay Parrott
and Commander Dan Russell. The highly selective program offers advanced
communication, leadership and fitness training for law enforcement
professionals with outstanding service records.
Asked
what he gained from the experience, Dugan said, “In addition to the class
instruction, the interaction with other law enforcement executives from the US
and over 27 countries around the world – Australia, Poland, Nigeria, Lebanon,
Oman, Japan, Costa Rica, Afghanistan, Belgium and others – was really beneficial. Learning from
each others' experiences on issues we all
share was the most rewarding.”
It was another quiet week -
not counting the 3/18 heist of a US Bank location in the 1300 block of Howard where
a man in his 20s presented a note and made off with cash. No one was
injured. Surveillance video provided
many images of the bandit. A blue blazer, believed to have been worn by the
offender, was recovered. The FBI is assisting the EPD with the investigation.
Now,
the rest of the news.
Deployment Meeting – March 22, 2016
Past Week
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On 3/17, a person reported being
shot at while walking in the 700 block of Dobson the day before on 3/16. The next day, the same victim called stating that subjects were following him with a gun from the area of Main and McCormick.
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Another handgun off the street: a routine traffic stop on 3/18 resulted
in the seizure of a 9mm handgun, found in the center console, which none of the
four occupants in the vehicle admitted to owning. None of the individuals were
Evanston residents and the investigation is still pending.
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Don’t do it: Laptops, purses and cell phones are routinely stolen when
left unattended in public places. On
3/22, a laptop was stolen from a restaurant in the 1700 block of Orrington.
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Sergeant Tracy Williams shared highlights of the St. Patrick’s Day
drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign: 54 seat belt violations and 32 cell
phone violations. There were also one
DUI arrest during the period.
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PST officers participated in the 4th Citizen Police Academy
class, conducted a safety talk for employees of an Evanston homeless shelter
and attended the weekly Live in Peace group meeting on 3/17.
Looking Ahead:
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Northwestern students are returning to campus after Spring Break this
upcoming week. The NUPD will be deploying additional resources on Friday and Saturday
evenings through the end of the school year to address loud
party and nuisance complaints in the off-campus residential neighborhoods.
 Inquiring Minds
Question:
With the increased focus on officer involved
shootings, has there been any impact on assaults against the police?
Answer
According to the Washington Post, “Of 14
line-of-duty deaths of law enforcement officers recorded in the first two
months of 2016, 11 were the result of a gun being used against the officer. This
time last year, only one of the 15 officers’ deaths was firearm-related, which
implies greater willingness on the part of offenders to go after the cops.” At this writing, the Officer Down Memorial Page site reports 26 line-of-duty
deaths this year, two of them in Illinois.
The National
Fraternal Order of Police is reigniting its campaign to expand federal hate
crimes laws so that attacks targeting police officers can be prosecuted as
such. In this week’s Deployment Meeting,
Deputy Chief James Pickett cited the 2016 statistics and urged commanders to remind officers to observe
safety precautions in an effort to reduce risk.
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Please keep your questions coming. Send them to Commander Joe Dugan and we’ll do our best to get you the answers. If you put In The Squad Room in the subject line, they’ll find their way to me.
 The ON-GOING GUN BUYBACK
PROGRAM allows Evanston residents to turn in an operational firearm to
police at any time in exchange for $100. Residents can utilize this
service by calling 311 or the Evanston Police Department
non-emergency line at 847-866-5000. A police officer will pick up the unwanted
firearm at the resident's address and present the resident with a voucher that
can be exchanged for $100 at the city collector’s office located in the Morton
Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave.
Firearms should not be brought to
the police department, unless prior approval has been granted from a supervisor at the police department. An officer will call the resident after a request is
made for the officer to come to a person's residence and retrieve the firearm.
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 What would you like to know about what the Evanston Police Department is doing to fight crime? Let us know if you have specific questions or concerns about issues in your neighborhood. Submissions are always welcome at police@cityofevanston.org or by calling the community strategies bureau at (847) 866-5019.
If you’d like to receive Evanston’s Daily Crime Report by email, you can subscribe here or view the Monthly Crime Statistics that are reported on a yearly basis to the FBI by clicking here.
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The Spring 2016 12-week Citizen Police Academy started a little over two weeks ago and we are sorry you couldn't make this class. So, if you would like to learn more about the Evanston Police Department, take an active role in Community Oriented Policing and join the ranks of over 900 graduates since 1995, please visit the Citizen Police Academy webpage and enroll now for the Fall class which usually begins in early September.
There is no cost to anyone who lives or works in Evanston. Getting to know your police force is essential in reducing crime, building trust in the community and serving the needs of the community.
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The
weekly deployment report is an informational bulletin prepared by a community
member that keeps citizens informed about what police do on a weekly basis.
Information contained in this report is not to be considered as a media/press
release. Any information considered by a media source from this bulletin needs
to be verified by an official from the department. This can be done by
contacting the media line at 847-866-5026.
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