This story has been updated with comments from representatives of Connections for the Homeless and Albany Care.
A man and woman arguing in a parked car. A man sitting on the curb, holding a can. A loud second-floor party happening across the street.
These may sound like simple observations from a walk around town, but they’re descriptions of real 911 calls received and dispatched by the Evanston Police Department. Rachel Williams, the city’s new Reimagining Public Safety Administrator, read these and several others to attendees at the Fourth Ward meeting Wednesday evening at the Robert Crown Community Center.
“As I read these narratives, the question I would ask you is, ‘Did this require an armed police officer?’” Williams asked. “If not, what type of responder would best handle this call?”
Williams presented the call examples and other data on behalf of Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), a nonprofit of current and former law enforcement officials advocating for criminal justice and drug policy reform.
The city contracted with LEAP in October 2022 to analyze EPD’s 911 call data and develop a “tailor-made detailed expanded response design” for the city.
The recommended expanded response will follow LEAP’s “community responder” model. Under this approach, EPD dispatchers would divert “low priority” calls such as wellbeing checks, nuisance complaints and disorderly conduct to unarmed civilian responders, city employees trained in skills like de-escalation and conflict mediation.
While neighboring departments like Skokie and Northwestern have similar staffs of “community service officers,” EPD Sgt. Chelsea Brown said these teams often defer to police on calls related to mental health crises, while LEAP’s community responders would be trained in handling those calls as well.
LEAP’s “methodology is perhaps a little different, has more of this focus on also responding to, potentially, people in mental health crisis,” Brown said. “And obviously if they need support, they could call the police. But having this model, the police are not the first ones out there.”
Williams is collecting community input at ward meetings and other events around Evanston as part of the final stage of LEAP’s work.
A full town hall is tentatively scheduled for June 27 at the Evanston Ecology Center, where LEAP representatives Lionel King and Amos Irwin are set to present their analysis and gather feedback. Residents can also submit feedback to the city’s digital survey.
After the town hall, LEAP will deliver its recommendations to the city with the feedback included. Fourth Ward Council Member Jonathan Nieuwsma said at that point, further action will fall to the City Council.
“It’ll be up to us whether or not we choose to implement this and their recommendations, and if so, how,” Nieuwsma said.
Updates on Margarita Inn, Albany Care
Later in the meeting, Nieuwsma shared updates on the Margarita Inn homeless shelter and the Albany Care psychiatric rehabilitation clinic, both of which are in the Fourth Ward.
Regarding the Margarita Inn, Nieuwsma said the city is in the process of planning the first quarterly meeting of a new advisory council for the shelter and its operator, Connections for the Homeless. He encouraged people interested in serving on the advisory council to apply via the city’s digital sign-up form before June 23.
Connections is still working on purchasing the building at 1566 Oak Ave. from its current owner, but Nieuwsma said even after the process is completed, Connections will continue to pay property tax on the building.
“So anybody who’s complaining that taking this building off the tax rolls is one of the negative impacts is misinformed,” Nieuwsma said.
Nia Tavoularis, Connections’ chief development officer, told the RoundTable via email that a payment in lieu of taxes requirement is already attached to the building’s deed under the current ownership, and that this will transfer with the property once Connections has completed the purchase.
Shifting to Albany Care, Nieuwsma said the facility at 901 Maple Ave. has grown its headcount to approximately 250 patients since the Illinois Department of Public Health lifted restrictions on its license in fall 2022. He said the patient total might not grow any further, as pending changes to state regulations would limit the number of patients per room to two.
This would reduce Albany Care’s current maximum headcount of 417 patients to “around what their current headcount is,” according to Nieuwsma. He said that while this would be good for the community around the facility, he’s concerned that the resulting reduction of potential revenue could drive Albany Care’s owners to aggressively cut costs.
“They certainly have some bare minimum requirements from IDPH in terms of staff levels, but anything above the bare minimum, I feel, is going to be at risk,” Nieuwsma said. “We are going to make sure the owners and operators of Albany Care know that we have our eyes on them, and are going to be doing everything we can to make sure that things don’t start to go sideways.”
Albany Care Executive Director Taylor St John responded to Nieuwsma’s comments in an emailed statement.
“Albany Care is aware of the standards,” St John wrote. “Albany Care has and will continue to operate in a manner consistent with those requirements and serve the needs of our valued consumers who are some of the most vulnerable in our community.”
I believe Wilmette has something similar in that they have a person on staff who will intercede in instances regarding instances of anti social behavior or conflict resolution, however the police have probably been the first to have responded, so this person isn’t the first one to become involved.
From my understanding ..on many fronts..it works quite well.
How about we look at these so called “low priority calls” from a different perspective—-
*A man and woman arguing in a parked car
This incident falls under “Domestic Dispute”—-ask your police patrolman how much they like these calls?—-in many cases domestic calls can be the most dangerous call of a cops day, one never knows what might happen—-the potential for violent reaction can be very high.
*A man sitting on a curb holding a can
What kind of can is the man holding—-an alcoholic beverage?—-most likely yes or the call wouldn’t have been made—-so now it’s most likely drunk and disorderly—-again the potential for violent reaction when approached can be dangerous—-for an individual to decide that sitting drunk on a curb in public space is okay?—most likely that person is incapable of rational thinking and therefore dangerous
*A loud second floor party happening across the street
Most likely heavy alcohol consumption and underage guests drinking—-in some cases a police warning that continued disturbance could result in arrests is enough, but one never knows—-it’s not uncommon for inebriated hosts to get snotty with cops and push the situation to a point of leaving cops no alternative but shut down the party—-dispersing the crowd can be a dangerous ordeal—-plus suspected underage drinkers must be checked for ID—-serving alcohol to minors is a serious crime.
So this plan calls for the city to send out unarmed polo pullover, khaki pants and Crocs wearing residents to handle these calls? —-trained in de-escalation and conflict mediation?
This plan actually makes sense to some people in Evanston?—-I’m incredibly curious as to who the daring residents are who will be willing to venture out at any time of the day or night to deal with such calls?—-will the city be providing full health insurance for those that get beaten to a pulp?…Think this over seriously as such individual arrives at the scene—
“Hi—please excuse me but my name is John Doe and I’m with the city of Evanston de-escalation and conflict mediation department—-I’m wondering if we could talk things over and see why you might be having a bad day—-I’m confident a friendly chat will resolve things so we don’t need any gun toting police involved—-how bout it, I’m here to listen to you and we’ll resolve everything in a caring civilized manner—-we’ll achieve peaceful resolve and you’ll be on your way”
Count me skeptical—-as in highly skeptical!—-establishing and maintaining law and order is at all times a demanding and dangerous business—-it’s the city of Evanston’s responsibility to hire nothing but the finest, trustworthy, responsible and respectful police officers to enforce law and maintain order—-to place residents in situations that demands police to handle is absurdly dangerous…I highly recommend Evanston residents to strongly reject this plan.