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Weekly Deployment Meeting Highlights

In the Squad Room -  And an Arrest for Littering

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. 

Clearly, it’s a mighty quiet week for crime when one of just 24 arrests (many of them for traffic-related incidents) during the deployment period was for littering in the 1700 block of Oakton on 11/22.  Other incidents included just one residential burglary, one ruse burglary, one commercial burglary, a pair of Shots Fired calls in which nothing was found, a garage burglary and two bicycle thefts.

More positives: It was a preview of Thanksgiving with treats for EPD officers courtesy of the Clergy Team - and holiday-decorated paper cups with packages of hot chocolate mix inside from Dewey Fifth Graders who visited 1454 Elmwood the day before.

The investigation of a traffic crash at 2:40 PM on 11/20 on Pitner near Nathaniel Place has resulted in the arrest of Evanston resident Dawan Williams.  He attempted to leave the scene of an accident in which a pedestrian was seriously injured when the vehicle Williams was driving accelerated and threw the victim into a light pole. Witnesses at the scene were able to detain Williams until police arrived.  He has been charged with one count of Reckless Conduct, one count of Leaving the scene of an accident – both Felonies – and a traffic citation for failing to have auto insurance.

 Now the rest of the news.  

Deployment Meeting – November 23, 2016

Past Week:

• There were two death investigations during the deployment period.  The Cook County Medical Examiner ruled one was the result of natural causes and the other was ruled a suicide. 
• Police arrested Dushaun Spruce of Chicago on 11/20 after finding 31 grams of weed in his vehicle.  Stopped by cops after he made a right turn without using his turn signal, he was charged with unlawful possession of cannabis, driving on a suspended license, failure to signal and driving on a suspended license.
• Sometime between 11/21 and 11/22, a burglar broke into an establishment in the 600 block of Dempster and made off with around $700 in cash, including proceeds from the tip jar. EPD detectives are reviewing video from the store’s security system.
• Increasingly, EPD officers confront incidents with residents with mental health issues. The Department provides professional training on this increasingly common occurrence.  Cases in point: two Evanston residents, both suicide risks, were escorted, without incident, to treatment facilities last week.
• Another ruse burglary occurred on 11/22 in the 1400 block of Noyes.  A resident was distracted by a door-to-door contractor offering repair services as an accomplice entered the residence, stealing silver and jewelry.  Please remind your friends and neighbors, especially senior citizens, not to allow strangers access without establishing their identities and checking credentials.  Bonafide contractors and utility workers do not make unannounced visits. When in doubt, call 9-1-1.
• Many of us are aware of several religious texts at the Evanston Public Library that were defaced with hateful messages. The books in question had not been checked out for over two years. According to detectives, it is not clear when the messages were written.
• They were there: PST officers attended the Fifth Ward meeting, led an Active Shooter training program (see note below) at ETHS for Citizen Police Academy Alumni and were present at both the Unity Rally and US Representative Jan Schakowsky’s talk at the Unitarian Church on 11/20.  They also attended a City-sponsored Spanish language event at St. Nick’s Church to demonstrate support for the city’s many communities.
  

Looking Ahead:·   

• Chief Eddington noted that there have been more requests for the Active Shooter A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training by citizens.  The EPD will be looking for ways to expand the training, which is designed to help individuals and organizations proactively handle the threat of an aggressive intruder or an active shooter event.
• According to Sergeant Tracy Williams, IDOT’s Click it or Ticket/Drive Sober of Get Pulled Over campaign will wrap up this weekend.  He also announced that 30,000 fans are expected at the NU game against Illinois on 11/26.  Kickoff is at 11 AM.

Inquiring Minds: Here is a question from reader S.W.: “How do we deal with persons who come to Evanston to commit crimes and then return to Chicago?” According to Commander Joe Dugan, whether it is Chicago or another jurisdiction, the EPD detectives will go wherever an investigation leads them in order to have the case result in a successful conclusion.  He said that detectives share intelligence with other departments on a daily basis and often work together to identify suspects and clear cases.  The detectives also work with other jurisdictions when a resident of Evanston has committed a crime in another town.  Most of the time, the detectives will drive their squad car to the other jurisdiction and meet up with an officer from that agency who will go along with them to try and locate the suspect.  On occasion though they have to travel by air to a farther location.  Currently detectives are preparing to fly to Texas where the suspect in the homicide of Bejamin Mandujano-Bradford was recently arrested.

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.

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.

The Fall 2016 12-week Citizen Police Academy recently graduated.  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 Spring class which usually begins in early March.    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.

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.