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Weekly Deployment Meeting Highlights

In the Squad Room - You Can't Use Your Tablet, Either

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. 

That’s one what motorist found out this week when stopped by a cop during the last week of IDOT’s “Drop It and Drive” anti-distracted driving campaign. We all know when drivers behind us are texting. They’re looking down with maybe a left hand (or no hands at all) on the wheel. Cops in their Ford Explorers have the advantage of altitude.  They can look down into our cars.  But if your go-to mobile device is an iPad, that big, bright screen is a sure giveaway even to a motorcycle cop.  You’ll get a ticket. Traffic Sgt. Williams expects the grand total of tickets issued during the campaign to number “in the hundreds”.

The real headline this week, however, involves shots fired calls.  Much of the time, police responding to these calls are unable to locate cooperative witnesses or evidence at the crime scene.  Fireworks are often mistaken for gunfire. But this week, police believe that rival gangs were likely responsible for several bonafide incidents. Two of them, one in the 800 block of Florence and the second in the 1800 block of Leland resulted in damage to property. Shell casings were recovered in the 200 block of Richmond on 4/25.  A day later, a victim was injured on the Chicago side of Howard. Because these are active, ongoing investigations, further details can’t be reported.  No one, at present, has been charged. (For more on how the EPD handles these calls, see Inquiring Minds at the end of this post.)

Now the rest of the news.  

Deployment Meeting – April 26, 2018

Past Week:

• A bicycle stolen on 4/3 from a downtown bike shop was recovered from Evanston resident Shelton Dely on 4/23.  He was charged with Possession of Stolen Property.        
• Crime Analyst Ring reported on the appearance of pitchfork graffiti in several James Park locations. Pitchforks, either upright or upside down, are associated with Latin street gangs. 
• On 4/18, EPD officers stopped the driver of a Nissan for a suspended vehicle registration. When cops detected the unmistakable odor of cannabis, driver James Fulton admitted that he also had a weapon in the vehicle. Police recovered a loaded Jennings model J-22 caliber handgun.  Fulton has a valid FOID card, but was arrested for Aggravated Unlawful Use of a Weapon since he didn’t have a Concealed Carry license.       
• Communications Coordinator Kuempel reported three Text-a-Tips this week. The first was a report of public drinking, the second a complaint about a rental truck dumping refuse in an alley and the third involved a malfunctioning car alarm.          
• PST Officer Correa noted a number of ALICE (active shooter) trainings in recent weeks, including sessions this week at Rotary International and the Civi Center.  Members of the PST assisted with OGA, CPA and Leadership Evanston meetings and attended 5th and 9th Ward meetings.  They also attended Dillo the Evanston Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition meeting and were on the panel at the third Town Hall Meeting this week.   ·         
• The Armored Car has come out of hibernation. It was last seen on Richmond where it will  remain for the next few days.         
• It was the last EPD Deployment Meeting for Deputy Commander Parrott who will be moving on to a post as Chief of Police in Lincolnwood. Chief Eddington thanked him for his 26 years of service to the department, acknowledging his many contributions as a “person who gets things done”. 

Looking Ahead:·

• On the docket for the Problem Solving Team: In addition to their usual monitoring of homeless, panhandling and bikes-on-downtown-sidewalks, they’ll be participating in OGA and CPA sessions and continuing to work with NU on Dillo Day (5/20/18) preparations. 
• National Drug Take Back Day is 4/28.  You can do your part in addressing the opioid crisis by taking your expired and dangerous medications to EPD headquarters at 1454 Elmwood from 10AM to 2 PM.

Inquiring Minds How does the EPD handle Shots Fired calls? Because a ‘shots fired’ call can be anything from a hoax or a nuisance to an event that leads to a murder investigation, every call is taken seriously. The  9-1-1 Communications Center dispatches officers to shots fired calls all times of day throughout the year. According to Commander Glew, the EPD dispatches officers to the scene immediately.  Since there are cops in every corner of the city 24 hours a day, police are there in a matter of minutes.  They canvass the area, speak to any potential witnesses, determine if anyone was injured and look for evidence in the form of shell casings, dropped items … anything that can assist in the investigation.   “Finding witnesses can be a challenge,” Glew told me, “because most of the calls we receive are anonymous.  Multiple calls about shots in the same general area are common and can be an indication that the event is legitimate, but we need to find evidence to be able to pursue the case.”  When the shots fired call is a shooting but no one is injured EPD still investigates. Evidence is collected and sent to the lab. Canvasses are done. Witnesses and potential targets are interviewed. Since shootings tend to be related the information learned in any shooting investigation can assist in future investigations when someone is injured. The "false alarm" calls that tend to spike around the July 4th holiday and New Year’s Eve are largely attributable to fireworks.  It can be difficult to tell the difference between a shooting and fireworks. Commander Glew emphasized that every call merits an immediate response, it could be a “matter of life and death”. So keep in mind before setting off those fireworks that it might cause a shots fired call and a police response. So if you hear something, call 9-1-1. What would you like to know? Email your questions and we’ll do our best to answer them. If you put In The Squad Room in the subject line, they’ll find their way to me.

Please keep your questions coming.  Send them to Commander Ryan Glew 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.