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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.
In the Squad Room - Spitting at Someone is a Criminal Offense
One of the criminal incidents reported
to the EPD this week involved an altercation in which an offender spat in the
face of a victim at a gas station. If
this doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would prompt a 9-1-1 call, think
again. Spitting meets the requirement for battery – an offense where an
assailant is intentionally touching someone without the victim’s consent. By intentionally spitting at someone, the
offender is touching the victim with saliva and exposing that surprised and
probably disgusted individual with bodily fluids. Depending on the circumstances, the charge
can range from a misdemeanor to a felony.
It’s no laughing matter.
Deployment Meeting – October 15, 2014
Prior to This Week
- The approaching end of the season for many cyclists may mean there is
less product on the street. This week,
there were only 8 bicycle thefts.
- On 10/8 EPD PST (Problem Solving Team) officers, traffic officers and juvenile
detectives participated in the International Walk to School Day.
- On 10/9, police received a Man With Gun call on the 1900 block of
Dempster. The area was checked and no
one was found. Later on that day, the description of vehicle associated with
that call resulted in officers arresting Andre Stinnette, 34, on the 200 block
of Ridge. He was charged with driving on
a suspended license and possession of a controlled substance.
- South of the south side: On 10/9, an Evanston resident was shot but not
seriously injured on the 1600 block of Juneway Terrace. On 10/10, the EPD
executed a search warrant and arrested Steven Hamann and Cary Smith both of the
1600 block of Farwell for weapons violations.
- Lock your car doors. Unlocked
car doors of three vehicles on 10/9 and 10/10 resulted in the theft of
unsecured cash and documents.
- On 10/13, thieves broke windows and entered two commercial
establishments on the 1900 block of Dempster.
In one of the incidents, six automobile titles and unsecured cash were
taken.
- Coming to a bank near us? A female matching the description of the
bandit who robbed a Skokie Fifth Third bank on 10/7 robbed a BMO Harris bank in
Wilmette on 10/14. Be warned, miscreant.
The EPD is on the lookout for you.
- By the numbers: Traffic has issued 5,530 traffic citations so far this
year.
- Bicycles on sidewalks continue to irritate pedestrians and create
serious safety issues. EPD officers are
issuing citations that’ll cost you $25.
Looking Ahead
- The EPD continues to receive complaints about aggressive panhandlers in
the downtown area. Watch commanders will
reinforce the importance of managing this ongoing problem at daily roll calls
with patrol officers working those beats.
- NU’s Homecoming this weekend is expected to draw over 48,000 fans. The homecoming Parade steps off on Friday,
10/17 at 6:00PM. The sold-out game
against the Cornhuskers is scheduled to begin at 6:30PM on Saturday, 10/18.
- Traffic news: The Merion – formerly the North Shore Hotel – begins a yearlong
construction project likely to impact traffic on the 1600 block of Chicago
Avenue.
- As
most resident know, Fountain Square is also due for a makeover. In the next several days, crews will be
working to temporarily transform it into a Halloween destination beginning on
Tuesday, 10/21. Expect more traffic
slowdowns in the vicinity.
- Area police departments want citizens to be aware of “ruse burglaries”.
These crimes are committed by crews of
burglars that pose as utility workers or contractors, often gaining the
confidence of homeowners who give them access to their homes. Typically one member of the crew distracts the
resident while other team members steal valuables. Senior citizens are often the targets of these
crimes. Be aware. Demand identification.
In doubt? Do not allow strangers to
enter your home. Call 9-1-1.
- And of course, there was the spitting incident at a gas station on the
100 block of Ridge. It is not clear what
precipitated the event. The female
offender has not been identified.
Inquiring Minds - A reader asks,
“In light of the spotlight being shown on domestic violence and the NFL,
would you look into how much violence within the home/relationships are going
on in our community? I read the Daily Crime Bulletin and it seems to
occur on average every week. Is this type of violence going on more or less in
the last several years?”
First of all, thanks for the question. According to
a recent global study, domestic violence kills more people than wars. October
is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic abuse is an under reported crime
– the percentages I’ve seen indicate that between 25% and 70% of offenses are
unreported. One study suggested that a
victim is abused 39 times before calling 9-1-1 or asking for help.
To answer your question, I turned to EPD’s Crime Analyst
and Commander Jay Parrott.
Here’s Commander Parrott: “We categorize domestic incidents
as either domestic disturbances or domestic violence incidents which would then
be reported as a crime. (A disturbance call - loud arguing, for instance - is
one where no crime occurred but will still be investigated by police and a
report documenting the incident.) All of
our domestic reports – whether
they’re assault/battery incidents or disturbances - are reviewed by a detective assigned to
handle domestic violence cases and our Victim Services Bureau. There’s a check
system in place to ensure that victims of domestic abuse are assisted by the
police department. We also have procedures to further protect the victim by
obtaining an Order of Protection if that’s needed. Orders of protection if violated require mandatory
enforcement by police.
In 2013 we responded to approximately 800
domestic-related calls including disturbances and assaults/batteries – so it
represented a little over 2% of our 36,000 calls for service. It doesn’t appear that there’s a significant
increase for the first nine months of 2014.”
The Crime Analyst encouraged me to review the EPD’s
annual reports where criminal investigation
counts are published for each calendar year.
This is what I discovered: There
were 204 domestic violence investigations in 2010, 209 in 2011, 257 in 2012 and
313 in 2013. While it appears that incidents have increased by 53% from 2012 to
2013, this uptick may have less to do with the total number of incidents than
the courage of victims to report incidents to the police. Additionally, these incidents range from assault/battery
offenses to aggravated battery/assaults and violations of orders of protection.
 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 Fall 2014 12-week Citizen Police Academy just finished the
half-way mark. 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 Spring 2015 class which starts in March. There
is no cost to anyone who lives or works in Evanston.
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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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