Friday, August 27, 2021 | View in browser
Weekly Deployment Meeting Highlights
Every week, a civilian attends the Evanston Police Department’s Deployment Meetings, takes notes on the topics discussed and writes about it and other public safety matters of interest to people who work and live in Evanston.
Supporting Illinois Special Olympics "Coffee for Champions" on 8/20
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Crime Analyst Ring and Intelligence Officer Giese highlighted five motor vehicle thefts, six bicycle thefts, five catalytic converter thefts, two fire department assists and an aggravated assault. Details on these and other incidents follow.
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Deployment Meeting – August 25, 2021
- At 5:22 PM on 8/24, the EFD responded to multiple reports of overturned sailboats and two individuals struggling in the lake. First responders encountered dangerous conditions on the lakefront near Lighthouse Beach, with a total of eight overturned boats in the water and along the shore. EPD officers at the scene were able to assist in directing first responders at the scene. Search and rescue efforts included the U.S. Coast Guard, City of Evanston lifeguards, Wilmette Sail Club, and City of Evanston staff. Both adult, uninjured sailors were rescued. Earlier that day, the EPD provided traffic control during a fire at a restaurant in the 2900 block of Central.
- On rollerblades: On 8/24, a victim reported being grabbed by an offender on rollerblades after being followed around 5:15 PM near Sherman and Emerson. NU’s numerous security cameras provided a description of the suspect. NUPD and EPD are investigating.
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Garage and Storage Burglaries: On 8/24, two bikes were taken from an unlocked garage in the 700 block of Monroe. Between 8/13 and 8/16, power tools were removed from a landscaping storage shed along the 1100 block of Central.
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Motor Vehicle Thefts during the period: Five altogether, between 8/19 and 8/23, in the 2400 block of Noyes, the 2600 block of Harrison, the 1600 block of Payne and the 800 block of Brown (this one later recovered in Chicago). Key fobs were left in two of the vehicles. In addition, a moped was stolen from the 2100 block of Ridge.
- The two Shots Fired calls during the deployment period failed to yield any evidence. Here’s when and where shots were reported:
- 8/22 at 2:30 AM in the 1100 block of Pitner
- 8/20 around 7 PM near Lake and Asbury.
- On 8/21 at 1:15 AM, a caller reported a catalytic converter theft in progress in the 800 block of Ridge Terrace. Confronted, the offender fled in a grey sedan, only to return to try again a short time later. EPD officers observed the suspect’s vehicle but were unable to stop it. There were five catalytic converter thefts during the week, most in the overnight hours between 8/20 and 8/21. Three Toyotas and two Hondas were struck at these locations: 100 block of South Blvd., 2300 block of Hastings, 2400 block of Ridgeway, 2300 block of Sherman and 800 block of Noyes.
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Bike Thefts: Six bicycle thefts occurred downtown and in south Evanston last week. With just one exception, all were secured to fixed objects or bike racks.
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Suspicious person: On 8/20 around 1 AM, police received a report of a suspect looking through a window in the 600 block of Hull Terrace.
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Package Thefts are on the decline with just one incident reported in the 600 block of Hinman on 8/20. Thieves continue to strike the common areas of apartment building and condos.
- Officers from Community Strategies (the Problem Solving Team) continued to address and resolve quality-of-life issues. In the last week, members attended Problem Properties Task Force and 5th Ward meetings, also participating in the “Coffee for Champions” event benefiting the Illinois Special Olympics (see photo above). They continue to monitor the lakefront, downtown parking garages, the Main/Chicago area, and Howard Street.
The Week Ahead
- Look for officers this weekend at the Friday Hovland Court ‘Walk the Block’ event, Saturday’s Farmers Market and Sunday’s Taste Of Armenia street fair from 12-5 at St. James Armenian Church (816 Clark Street).
- Sergeant Sophier of the Traffic Management Bureau reports that IDOT’s Labor Day traffic safety campaign has begun. With messages like “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over,” “If You Feel Different, You Drive Different” and “Drive High Get a DUI,” the high-visibility mobilization will continue until the early morning hours of 9/7 to include the Labor Day holiday, an often-deadly time on Illinois roads.
- Reminder: NU’s first home game is scheduled for 9/3 at 8 PM. The EPD is working with NU on traffic and event details, especially in light of bridge construction on Central.
Here is a question from Reader S.B: “With all the bicycle thefts we read about, I'm curious if the blue Divvy rental bikes ever get stolen? I see flocks of them in various parts of town which appear idle and unsecured for weeks at a time. One such congregation can be found north of Golf Road along Crawford Avenue as well as around residential neighborhoods which don't appear to be secured to anything.
Are these bikes ever stolen or is Divvy able to track them via GPS or some other homing device to reunite back into their storage racks? Is there a number to call so Divvy can pick them up and return them to more appropriate rental points?”
First of all, the theft of bikeshare bicycles is a global problem. Last year, Mobike, a Chinese bike sharing company, announced it lost more than 200,000 bikes to theft and vandalism in 2019. Car rental companies have historically faced the same challenges. According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, over 30,000 vehicles are stolen every year in the U.S.; people rent cars, then don’t return them.
To answer Reader S.B.’s question, I turned to a spokesperson for Lyft’s Transit, Bikes and Scooters group. (In 2018, Lyft acquired Motivate, the operator of Chicago's Divvy, New York City’s Citi Bike, and other bike-rental programs in major U.S. cities. The 10 docking stations that appeared here a year later have more than doubled as of this writing.)
Theft is a problem and Lyft is minimizing to the extent possible. “We have two types of bikes,” the representative said, “the classic pedal bikes that need to be docked within stations and the hybrid e-bikes that can docked to a station or a fixed object. The e-bikes can be tracked using onboard GPS and have other anti-theft protections built in. If our operations staff detects an idle bike for an extended period of time, we’ll pick it up and rebalance it.” (Note: rebalancing means reassignment of bikes to a geographic location.) The system, he said, remains healthy and continues to break ridership records, with an all-time high of 36,853 rides on August 14th.
Lyft suggests that only bikes forcibly taken should be reported to the local police department. As a result, the EPD has received no reports of stolen Divvy bikes in the last year. Lyft has implemented internal protocols for reporting missing or stolen bikes. Their 24/7 Customer Service department is poised to handle bikes that are lost, missing, or stolen.
What about a colony of Divvy bikes that appears to have been abandoned, like the one on Crawford and Golf that our reader observed? Lyft suggests contacting Support and sending a note with a description of the issue in the Divvy app or calling the Customer Service number at 1 855-553-4889. This is a service to the rider, too, since bikes missing for more than 24 hours can result in a $1,200 fee (plus tax) charged to the account holder who took out the bike.
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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.
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