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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. Linda also recently graduated from Class 39 of the Citizens Police Academy.
In the Squad Room - Police Appreciation Week
The annual celebration of Police Appreciation Day in front of EPD headquarters on May 28 pushed the Deployment Meeting back one day. This added an extra 24 hours of activity and crime stats, producing a Major Incident & Accidents weekly crime map that was literally peppered with icons of just about every type (except homicide and I’m not sure if there’s an icon for that).
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 With one notable exception of a car theft in Beat 75 (northwest Evanston), almost all the activity took place in central and south Evanston. Thieves made off with a total of ten bicycles, many of them locked at or near transit stations. Six more catalytic converters were removed from Honda CRVs (mostly in South Evanston where I live and drive that same ubiquitous car). Vandals damaged the side windows of 11 vehicles on Greenwood, Florence and Wilder on May 25 in what was either an unusual way to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend or an expression of gang machismo.
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Deployment Meeting – Thursday, May 29, 2014
Prior to This Week
- The 1900 block of Jackson continues to attract the attention of police
with several separate calls during the deployment period, one of them a
man-with-gun call on 5/22.
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Strong arm (no weapon used) and armed robbers struck again on the 700
block of Brummel and the 200 block of Elmwood on 5/24 and 5/25. Cell phones were taken in both incidents.
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On 5/27, four individuals gained entry to a home on the 300 block of
Darrow and battered a victim. The
incident is thought to be due to an on-going issue.
- Skokie Police have alerted the EPD to a 5/22 shooting in an alley on
the 8800 block of Bronx Avenue. The
18-year old man was taken to Presence St. Francis Hospital.
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To date for the
month of May has produced 157 cell phone violations, 150 seat belt violations
and 3 DUI arrests
by the traffic bureau.
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Five canisters of nitrous oxide were stolen from Presence St. Francis
Hospital on 5/21. (See Inquiring Minds at the end of this article.)
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Evanston Police fielded a tobacco compliance check during the deployment
period. Of 41 establishments checked, 2
were non-compliant and citations were issued.
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Police and the community at large are still searching for missing
person Corey Janczak, age 29, who was last heard from on 5/18 in the Rogers
Park/Evanston area. Police believe he may present a suicide risk.
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Technology and Evanston’s new parking meters: The Traffic Department
reported issues with a cell phone app designed to transfer funds to the City’s
new meters. If you’re one of the unlucky
technophiles thwarted by the buggy app, note the location and number of the
parking meter and call 311. You may
avoid a parking violation. In the
meantime, it may be less stressful to use coins or your debit card.
Looking Ahead
- As graduation time nears, the EPD is keeping a close watch on parties
and especially advertised keggers. If
you’re a planner or a landlord with student tenants planning an event like
this, expect a phone call or visit.
- Even non-NU students are aware of Dillo Day, scheduled for 5/31. The NU Police and the EPD are teaming up to
keep the peace at this all-day festival expected to draw several thousand
students.
- Park patrols: Now that summer is unofficially here, expect to see more
PST officers on bikes at any of Evanston’s 76 (that’s right – 76) parks, 50 of
which are playgrounds. They and other
EPD patrol officers will be working with Evanston Park Rangers to keep the
citizenry safe. And remember – even
though Evanston is not the dry town it once was, it’s still illegal to consume
alcoholic beverages in our parks and playgrounds. The same goes for cannabis. Cannabis is illegal
anywhere in Evanston and you will at a minimum be ticketed or arrested for its’
possession depending on the circumstances.
Inquiring Minds - The Perils of "Whip-Its"
The theft of giant tanks of nitrous oxide at first
struck me as just plain curious. Of
course I know that nitrous oxide is used as an anesthetic in dental offices and
hospitals. But I also know that “whip-its” are sold, usually in little
balloons, on the street in places like the French Quarter and Key West and that
teens sometimes buy, steal or use aerosol cans of whipped cream for that little
blast of the gas.
That someone would engineer the theft of five heavy
tanks of the stuff made me wonder about who’s using it today and the dangers
are associated with it. Here’s a short
course:
- It’s an inhalant – along with solvents, for example – that people use
to get high.
- Use of nitrous oxide – also called “whip-its”, “noz” or “hippie crack”
has been surging in recent years.
- According to one study, almost a quarter-million people aged 12 and older used the drug in a 12-month
reporting period. The average age of
first use? 16.
- It’s widely available – as close as refrigerated topping case at the
convenience store, Mom’s fridge or from a vendor at a rock concert.
- Why it’s so dangerous: Doctors and dentists mix nitrous with oxygen in
clinical applications. Street vendors
don’t. That means the risks include
hearing loss, liver and kidney damage, brain and bone marrow damage, heart
failure, suffocation and … death.
- If that’s not enough: The L.A. County Sheriff has attributed fatal car
accidents and rapes to use of the drug.
It’s no laughing matter.
 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 residents’ 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 handled or brought to
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.
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 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.
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 The
Spring 12-week Citizen Police Academy graduated last week. If you’d like to learn more about the Evanston Police
Department, take an active role in Community Oriented Policing and join the
ranks of 800 graduates since 1995, please visit www.cityofevanston.org/cpa and plan ahead
to enroll in the Fall 2014 class which starts in the end of August. There
is no cost to anyone who lives or works in Evanston.
The Summer session of the Youth Citizens Police Academy is approaching fast. If you are a teenager between the ages of 14 & 17 and want to learn about the Evanston Police Department please contact Police Officer Loyce Spells at (847)866-5019 or by email at lspells@cityofevanston.org.
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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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