Friday, March 12, 2021 |   View in browser

Weekly Deployment Meeting Highlights

Every week, Linda Hansen 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.

Celebrating International Women's Day - March 8

Last week marked a return to the numbers and types of criminal activities – burglaries, shots fired, catalytic converter and motor vehicle thefts – that are usual in Evanston. Atypical, however, was this one: crooks targeting ATM machines at four locations (a gas station, a car wash, a restaurant/grocery store, and a liquor store) in the early morning hours of 3/4. They succeeded in removing one machine. They also targeted cash registers. Security videos captured much of the action including the getaway car, which was recovered in Chicago the next day. Detectives are on it.

In case you missed International Women’s Day on 3/8, we are just 12 days into Women’s History Month. There’s still time to celebrate. (In fact, you can click here for a downloadable toolkit.) How do women fare at the EPD?  The answer is better than most. Females make up just 12.8% of police officers nationwide. In Evanston, they represent about 20% of the force and include two deputy chiefs, one commander and four sergeants.

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Deployment Meeting – March 10, 2021

• Shelton Bell was arrested by police on 3/7 after a victim reported being pistol-whipped by him to security at a retail store in the 1600 block of Sherman. Bell was ultimately charged with battery.
• So far, Evanston has been mostly spared from the spate of carjackings in Chicago and the suburbs. The CPD has reported more than 350 in the first two months of the year.
• EPD received three shots fired calls on 3/6 and 3/7 in the 200 block of Ridge, the 200 block of Dewey and near the intersection of Lyons and Leland. Police were unable to locate evidence in the form of bullets or bullet casings. On 3/7, a vehicle owner in the 1100 block of Dobson reported that his car’s rear window had been shattered, with a bullet lodged in the driver’s side visor.
• There were two robberies reported during this deployment period. On 3/4, a victim was approached from behind by a man who demanded his money and claimed to have a knife around 9:30 PM in the area of the 1800 block of Maple. On 3/5, a female walking through a store parking lot in the 2200 block of Howard at 8:40 PM had her bag snatched by a passenger in a black SUV.
• A rental car stolen from the 500 block of South Blvd on 3/4 was recovered four hours later when it was involved in a hit and run accident in Skokie.
• Pedestrians and motorists can expect congestion on Howard Street as Phase II of a project to beautify the street kicks off on 4/1. It includes a new streetscape, sidewalks, a bike lane, street lighting and traffic signal improvements.
• Packages were stolen from the common area of a building in the 1400 block of Brummel on 3/3 and a single family home in the 2000 block of Orrington on 2/25.
• Police are investigating an incident that happened around 2 PM on 3/4 when a victim was forced by a group of subjects to leave a barbershop and get into a car in the 1900 block of Church. The victim was able to escape after he was pistol-whipped by one of the offenders. The group fled, but not before taking the victim’s vehicle. Lake Forest and North Chicago police assisted in recovering the victim’s vehicle and taking the suspects into custody. Christopher Davis was charged with aggravated unlawful restraint and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.  Iesha Winfrey and Norman Thompson were charged with aggravated unlawful restraint. 
• Residential burglaries: A wallet and its contents were taken from a residence with an unlocked back door in the 1400 block of Brummel on 3/8. No joke: Between 2/1 and 2/26, two boxes of comic books and apparel were taken from an apartment in the 1400 block of Chicago. There were no signs of forced entry. The resident believes that keys may have been left in the door.
• Two catalytic converter thefts were reported during the deployment period, but it’s likely that at least one happened earlier. One was a Volvo in the 600 block of Forest and the other was a Mazda in the 2100 block of Sherman.
• Community Strategies (PST – the Problem Solving Team) attended the 2nd, 5th and 7th Ward meetings, led the second Citizen Police Academy class, and met with the city’s Special Events Committee. Will some festivals and outdoor concerts return after 12+ months of Covid? Check back for details. Officers continue their efforts to resolve complaints around nuisance properties.

The Week Ahead

• Community Strategies officers will participate with the city in Farmers Market planning. The Market returns on 5/1. They’ll also take part in the Human Trafficking Awareness Presentation. 
• Register for the Human Trafficking Awareness Presentation scheduled for 3/15 from 5 -7 PM. 
• In addition to patrolling for impaired drivers as we approach St. Patrick’s Day, the Traffic Bureau will be stepping up seat belt enforcement, especially at night when seat belt usage rates are lowest. Speed limits and distracted driving laws will also be strictly enforced.

Inquiring Minds: What does the end of cash bail mean?

On February 22, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed House Bill 3653 into law as Public Act 101-0652, creating the SAFE-T (Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity – Today) Act. This Act, according to the EPD’s March Training Bulletin “makes changes to criminal justice in Illinois and includes ending cash bail, modifying sentencing guidelines, expanding police training, requiring officers to wear body cameras, creating new rules for the use of force and execution of search warrants, enhancing prisoner’s rights and establishing criteria for the certification and decertification of officers.”  

Illinois is the first state to end cash bail as part of criminal justice reform. Some of the changes are effective as early as July 1, 2021, while most of the changes go into effect on January 1, 2022. But the elimination of cash bail doesn’t become effective until January 1, 2023. Why? Courts need time to prepare for the new system.

We’ve all heard a lot about the end of cash bail, but if you’re like me, and don’t know much about it, here’s what you need to know.

Let’s start with the current practice: cash bail.

Bail works by releasing a defendant in exchange for money that the court holds until all proceedings and trials surrounding the accused person are complete. The court hopes that the defendant will show up for his or her court dates in order to recover the bail. In most places, a standard bail amount is set for any alleged offense, but judges have discretion to raise or lower it. The judge can also waive bail entirely and release a defendant on their “own recognizance,” which means that a person promises to show up when he or she is supposed to.

The cash bail system tends to criminalize poverty, drive racial inequalities and contribute to mass incarceration. People who are unable to afford bail are detained while they await trial for weeks or even months. (Some statistics suggest that on any given night in the US, there are nearly half a million people incarcerated for this reason.) Spending even a few days in jail can result in people losing their jobs, housing, and even custody of their children.

What’s the alternative?

House Bill 36753 scraps the Illinois cash bail system and replaces it with a “pretrial release” system. Except in the cases of the worst felonies, most people charged with crimes will be freed until trial. But many will be required to follow court-imposed conditions such as having to wear a monitoring device or undergoing drug treatment.

As one determinant, the bill gives judges the option of using a risk-assessment tool to determine what those conditions are.

 What are the pitfalls?

One common fear is that ending cash bail and reforming the pretrial system will endanger the public. But several studies have demonstrated that defendants’ rates of appearance for trial after reforms were implemented are similar or better than rates of appearance before the reforms. The rates of rearrests for people who were released pretrial are about the same, too.

How it shakes out for Illinois won’t be known until sometime in 2023. I wondered how many bail bondsmen would have to find new jobs. Here’s a surprising final fact: bail bond companies are prohibited from operating in Illinois. 

Have a question for us? We’re always looking for reader input and suggestions. And starting right now, you can include questions for the Traffic Bureau. Just send them to Commander Garner and put In The Squad Room in the subject line. We’ll make sure to direct them to the appropriate person for an ITSR response. 

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.

Property Recovered in Evanston

Think your property may have been recovered by the Evanston PD? Click here to start your search. Be sure to check out the third party service that displays items found within the last 21 days. Here's the link.

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. Take a look at the Evanston Police Department Dashboard.

Let us know if you have specific 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 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.