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Weekly Deployment Meeting Highlights

In the Squad Room - Less Time, Less Crime

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 covered just five days, from Thursday 9/28 through Tuesday, 10/3 making the This Week’s Crime map (below) a little sparse. Major incidents included a single reported bicycle theft, five car break-ins (all unlocked, as usual), one strong-arm robbery, and the return of catalytic converter thieves who struck two vehicles in the same southeast Evanston neighborhood on 9/29.

Now the rest of the news.  

Deployment Meeting – October 4, 2017

Past Week:

• They will find you. Around midnight on 9/28, detectives from the EPD’s TAC unit observed two men walking near Jonquil Terrace and Ashland. The cops recognized known gang member Sherwin Flowers as one of the men and when they observed what appeared to be a gun in his waistband, they attempted to approach the pair. Both fled, but not before the other man dropped a loaded .45 caliber Smith and Wesson. Cops were unable to catch Flowers who dropped his sweatshirt containing a loaded HK .45 caliber handgun. They did locate him a day later when he was taken into custody and charged with Unlawful Use of a Weapon by a Felon.
• On 10/1, police were notified of multiple shots fired near Lake and Pitner. They arrived at the scene to find a 2015 Mazda with its windshield and driver’s-side window shattered by gunfire. Four bullet casings were recovered. Witnesses described the shooter as a male subject with dreadlocks.
• On 10/3, a victim was robbed of $500 in cash by six individuals in an alley in the 1300 block of Pitner around 11:30 PM.
• PST officers were on hand at two Coffee with a Cop events on Wednesday 10/4 – Berry Pike at 1100 Davis from 9 to 11 AM and Yo-Fresh at 635 Chicago from 4-6 PM. They also assisted Traffic and Patrol officers in keeping Ridge Avenue safe on 10/1 for Bike the Ridge cyclists.
• Mystery: A 2014 Mercedes was stolen off the street in the 1400 block of Fowler. All the keys were accounted for.
• Communications Coordinator Curt Kuempel reported two Text-a-Tips during the period. The first was a complaint of a car repair service operating out of a residential garage and the second a report of a parked car blocking a sidewalk.

Looking Ahead:·

• Get ready for the 4th Annual “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” event on 10/8.  The one-mile walk event will take place at 11AM in Centennial Park and is hosted by Northwest CASA, a non-profit agency that provides free services to those affected by sexual assault and sexual abuse. As usual, EPD officers will be participating, some (men included) tottering the route in red high heels. You can join in and raise money for a worthy cause here.

Inquiring Minds:  Just about every week, someone in Evanston is charged with Domestic Battery.  During the most recent deployment period, there were three such arrests.  These, it should be noted, are the small percentage (25% by some calculations) that excite the attention of the EPD, either from a victim calling 911 or a neighbor reporting a fight that has escalated to the level of physical violence.  Here’s a staggering fact: The number of American troops killed in Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2012 was 6,488. The number of American women who were murdered by current or ex male partners during that time was 11,766. That’s nearly double the amount of casualties lost during war. One in four women will become a victim of domestic violence by an intimate partner in her lifetime.  Men are not immune.  1 in 7 will fall victim to severe violence by an intimate partner.  This is an epidemic that extends beyond gender, race, social class and sexual orientation.  It can happen to anyone.  If you have not been a victim, someone you know has and may need help now. Besides notifying the EPD, YWCA Evanston/North Shore is a valuable resource and is the only comprehensive residential domestic violence program in the northeastern Chicago metropolitan area. The program offers these services: 24-hour domestic violence hotline Emergency shelter (Mary Lou's Place) Community-based services   Legal advocacy   Relationship violence prevention  Community outreach and education   Longer-term housing for survivors  If you or someone you know needs help, contact the YWCA at 847-864-8780 or 877-718-1868.

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.

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..   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.