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Weekly Deployment Meeting Highlights

Every week, the Ordinary Citizen attends the Evanston Police Department’s Deployment Meetings, takes notes on the topics discussed and writes about other police-related matters of interest to the people who work and live in Evanston.

It's Your Turn

The deadline for registration is 9/27.

This deserves to be first: For several years now, the EPD has provided active shooter response training for schools, houses of worship, public institutions, civic groups and businesses around town, but now, they’re reaching out to citizens 18 years of age and older. The four-hour session covers trends, preparedness tactics, organizational/individual response actions, basic life-saving techniques and interactive response drills.

Is “Run. Hide. Fight.” still the advice of active shooter training experts?  Find out in a session with information that could save your life and the lives of people around you. Apply at cityofevanston.org/EPDtraining, but do it soon since the application deadline is 9/27. Officer Daley expects the event to fill up pretty quickly.

This Week’s Crime: Between Thursday, 9/12 and Saturday, 9/14, there were 7 residential burglaries and one attempt. With the exception of one incident in which it wasn’t known how burglars gained access, crooks entered through unlocked windows (6 residences) and a back door. Four of the break-ins occurred during the day. Investigators continue to believe that juveniles are involved and have some worthy-of-CSI tactics (that, of course, I can’t share) to solve the cases.

Other property crimes included bike thefts (6), a garage burglary and a single motor vehicle burglary to an unlocked car. Details follow.

Given a relatively light week for crime, most of ITSR’s reported events happened on Friday the 13^th including almost half of the residential break-ins.

Weekly Crime Map

Click to enlarge

Deployment Meeting – September 18, 2019

Discussed at the meeting: 

• An unlocked garage in the 600 block of Mulford resulted in the 9/15 report of missing cash and other items.
• No, you can’t do that: Michael J. Smith, 25, was arrested on 9/13 and charged with electronic commuication harrassment for sending threatening Facebook messages to an Evanston woman.
• Here’s the rundown on the residential burglaries: On 9/12: No sign of forced entry in the 700 block of Florence where cash was reported missing, the 900 block of Ridge where burglars entered through a window (nothing was reported missing in the police report) and a home in the 700 block of Case where crooks entered through a window and took miscellaneous items.  Burglars were unsuccessful in their attempts to break into a home by breaking a glass window in the 1100 block of Elmwood. On 9/13: the 1100 block of Oak through a ripped screen in the front door where a purse and its contents were removed, the 800 block of Lincoln through a window screen where a mobile phone and electronics were taken and the 1800 block of Asbury through an unlocked window where a purse and its contents were reported missing. On 9/15, the 2100 block of Pioneer burglars entered through an unlocked window and made off with a purse and its contents.
• On 9/13, an individual reported being robbed at gunpoint of $20 in the 600 block of Chicago Avenue. When the offender, a white male in his 20s, saw a remaining ten dollar bill in the victim’s  wallet, he struck the victim and snatched it before running away.  Detectives are investigating.
• A caller reported a man with a gun in the 1600 block of Chicago Avenue around 1 PM on 9/13. Cops responding to the scene were unable to locate a suspect or weapon.
• Mundelein resident Kyle Rankin was charged with Aggravated DUI on 9/13. Evanston police observed him driving in the wrong lane traveling south on Asbury, nearly hitting the squad car. They were able to stop him in the 7200 block of Western in Chicago. A passenger, Kevin Grant of Berwyn, was found to be in possession of illicit drugs and charged with Possession of Controlled Substance. A handgun was also found during a search of the vehicle. However, there was no charge because it couldn’t be tied to either occupant.
• Crooks attempted to break into a hardware store in the 600 block of Howard on 9/11. A pry tool was used in the failed attempt.
• Assistant Communications Coordinator Kuempel said that there were three Text-a-Tips last week, but only one bonfafide about the presence of rats in a residential alley.
• Of last week’s bike thefts, three were locked to bike racks. The rest were unsecured.
• According to Traffic Sgt. Williams, the Kits, Cats and Kids Block Party on 9/13, as well as the NU game against UNLV on 9/14, were without incident. He also mentioned that the Traffic Bureau picked up another award for their achievements in IDOT’s one-day July speed enforcement event.  
• PST (Problem Solving Team) officers attended numerous meetings last week, including planning sessions for exercises at the Evanston Public Library and Park School, CPA (Citizen Police Academy) and Police Explorers sessions and the 5^th Ward meeting.  They conducted ‘walk and talks’ in the NU neighborhoods, attended the NU vs. UNLV football game and the Farmers Market, both on Saturday. They continue to monitor the downtown area with bicycle and foot patrols. In fact, they handed out 7 warnings for bikes on sidewalks last week.

The Week Ahead          

• Look for PST officers at the Farmers Market and the NU/Michigan State game (with an 11 a.m. kickoff) on 9/20. They will continue to focus their activities in Beats 77 and 78 (5^th Ward and Howard Street area), along with monitoring downtown panhandling, homeless and bike-on-sidewalks issues.
• Don’t forget to apply for a slot in the 10/5 Active Shooter Repsonse Training. The deadline is 9/27. Apply at org/EPDtraining. Questions? Email Officer Daley at edaley@cityofevanston.org.

Inquiring Minds

"I commute to EPL from Edgewater in Chicago, and if the weather is acceptable, by bike. I see the occasional e-bike, and of course they just fly past me. They are, in my view, no different than scooters or motorbikes, and yet they act like cyclists, and by that I mean: sometimes taking liberties at stop signs and stoplights.

Two questions: Are they treated by the law (and by EPD) as if they are bicycles? And second, since I regard them as dangerous to pedestrians, actual bikers, and to themselves: is law enforcement actively issuing warnings (at least) for some of their bad behavior?  (My wife accuses me here of hypocrisy, since I sometimes only slow down at stop signs, though I always stop at stoplights.)”

The answer comes from this week’s editor, Communications Coordinator Perry Polinski, who, among other tasks, is, in my view, the civilian commander of the  9-1-1 Dispatch Center.

“The City adopted a ban which prohibits operating electric bicycles on certain Evanston streets in 2012. 

Since then, the federal government has adopted regulations separating the bikes into three classes based on their speed capacity and whether pedaling is required to operate them. The state has amended the IVC (Illinois Vehicle Code) to allow for the operation of three classes of low-speed electric bicycles (a state law that went into effect last year bars the operation of any electric bicycles on sidewalks). The City of Chicago adopted a more restrictive version of the State's low-speed electric bike code that treats two low-speed versions of electric bicycles -- ones capable of motor-assisted speeds up to 20 miles per hour -- as bicycles for purposes of access to bike lanes and other regulations.

At their August 28th meeting, the Transportation & Parking Committee approved repealing Evanston's ban and adopting the City of Chicago's more restrictive low-speed electric bicycle code. The ordinance is scheduled to be taken up at the October 14th City Council meeting.

I am not aware of any tickets being issued since the ban was enacted.”

Here’s what I know: The subject has come up at recent deployment meetings resulting from complaints about the presence and speed of e-bikes on bike paths.  Apparently, the EPD has clocked e-bikes there at about 12-13 MPH, which is about the same (leisurely) speed I ride my bike.  It sounds like we’ll know more about changes in the Evanston code after the 10/14 City Council meeting.  I’ll make sure to report it here.

Gun Buyback Program

The Ongoing 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.

Crime Reports

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.   Subscribe to Evanston’s Daily Crime Report by email or view the Monthly Crime Statistics that are reported on a yearly basis to the FBI.

Citizen Police Academy

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.