Evanston Police Announce New Policy and Procedures: As It Happened

EVANSTON, IL - The Evanston Police Department announced new department policies and procedures at a Human Services Committee meeting Monday evening. After beginning with a period of public comment limited to roughly two minutes per person, the bulk of the meeting was spent discussing the announcement of a series of policy and procedure changes by Evanston Police Chief Richard Eddington, which were read out by City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz.

Among the changes:

• The Evanston Police Advisory Committee, which had been appointed by current and former police chiefs, will be disbanded. Instead, the Mayor-appointed Citizen Police Advisory Committee will have full complaint review responsibilities. There was also discussion of forming a new working group comprising interested community members and members of other existing business and resident police advisory groups.
• Officers will begin wearing body cameras starting July 1 with full implementation by Jan. 1, 2018.
• The department will begin using Lexipol, an online system for police best practices.
• Officers will receive additional de-escalation training, dispatchers will receive E.P.D.-specific training and officers will continue diversity and inclusion training offered by Dr. Gilo Kwesi C. Logan.
• The city will hire an Equity and Empowerment Coordinator next month who will review use of force incidents.
• E.P.D. will adopt the National Consensus Policy on Use of Force starting May 1.
• Starting in March, the City of Evanston's new website will include an improved statistic dashboard, making more data accessible to the public. This will include making it easier for citizens to review complaints against officers.

Read the full memo and a minute by minute account of the meeting below:

MINUTE BY MINUTE:

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8:45 p.m. Meeting adjourned.

8:41 p.m. After the discussion of rodent solutions, a lifetime resident of Evanston addresses the committee. She says the main problem is to get the white people and black people together and get them to know each other. Says she experiences some of the same things today as she did as a child growing up in a segregated area. "We are right back to the same kind of things today," she says. She describes several instances of discrimination in Evanston businesses. "Even though the kids are in school together, they're not together, if you really observe them."

8:34 p.m. Discussion shifts to Evanston's rodent problem, presentation by Mr. Ike Ogbo, Interim Assistant Director, Health and Human Services.

8:32 p.m. Committee formally approves HH2 (Diversity & Inclusion Retainer Agreement with Dr. Gilo Kwesi Logan.)

8:30 p.m. Ms. Hester takes to the podium to provide what she describes as a correction to Mr. Bobkiewicz's statements. She says city is ignoring Citizen Network Protection group and people who are "not connected to a high-profile institution" are overlooked. Says her group has already spent seven years working on a reform document. Chairman Tendam asks her and others interested to reach out and join the new group.

8:23 p.m. Ald. Rainey clarifies her question. "I'm just wondering how far does it go, what you all hear here?" Mr. Bobkiewicz says officers are "certainly paying attention."

8:21 p.m. Ald. Rainey asks how police officers know what members of the public think. Mr. Bobkiewicz says "the release of the Crosby video brought that to a whole new level," and his impression is officers found that troubling. Bobkiewicz says the practical reality is many officers live far away from the community and officers would prefer not to interact with people they've had encounters with "at the grocery store."

8:19 p.m. Ald. Fiske points out typo ("Complaint" vs "Compliant" on page 18-19 of Attachment 2 of the meeting handout) and asks for city website to show public comments from tonight's meeting. "The key to really getting this done is to have the community engaged in the answers," she says.

8:18 p.m. Ald. Revelle agrees with Wynne and says she's looking forward to increased engagement with community.

8:15 p.m. Ald. Wynne says community input is critical and essential, says she likes all the things that have been discussed and asks attendees to keep participating and "step up." She says looking at Champaign is a good springboard. "We are not Chicago...and are proud of not being Chicago," but "re-examination is always necessary.

8:10 p.m. Ald. Holmes recalls 2010 community meeting as well as the origins of the Citizens Police Advisory committee. "Whatever happens here we all have to own it, it belongs to all of us," she said. "I don't want people to think we haven't been working on these issues." Says she wishes Crosby and Reid incidents didn't happen, but the city was working on issues of community policing long before that. Mr. Bobkiewicz agrees with a suggestion from Ald. Holmes of an independent review of complaints against police.

8:06 p.m. Ald. Fiske thanks attendees, says she wants Evanston to be national model for appropriate and positive police-community relations.

8:05 p.m. Mr. Bobkiewicz suggests using the next 30 days to get the two citizen's police advisory groups to meet together and form a new group. Ald. Fiske asks the room how many people in the room are interested in participating in the reform process. Many hands are raised. "You're the most important piece of this," she says. "If you don't have trust in that process, this isn't going to work."

8:00 p.m. Alderman discuss the formation of a citizen's complaint working group.

7:55 p.m. Ald. Miller request to include demographic information in data shared with the committee. Chief Eddington agrees. Miller requests to keep a running tally of how many citizen complaints are sustained. Miller asks City Manager Bobkiewicz to have the city's lawyer's office review the extent of prosecutions based on municipal ordinances to reduce the total number of arrests.

7:52 p.m. Chief Eddington notes the increased mandate for officer training that comes with body camera implementation. Describes it as an "unfunded mandate" by the state to provide additional scenario-based training. Answers Ald. Miller's question about discipline noting, "We can't discipline them for doing something dumb we told them to do."

7:49 p.m. Ald. Miller asks about Consensus Use of Force, confirms it's being incorporated into EPD general order that covers the use of force.

7:48 p.m. Chief Eddington encourages everyone to read full report on Citizen Review of Police Complaints from Champaign.

7:47 p.m. Mayor Tisdahl suggests that she be given more control over the Citizen Police Advisory Committee rather than relying on Alderman to suggest appointees from each ward. Ald. Miller suggests opening up application to the public.

7:42 p.m. Ald. Wilson says "safety, it's just kind of in my DNA." Says the council assumes that lack of equity and segregation is a problem and wants more community involvement. Suggests everyone only comes out to meetings when something dramatic happens. He blames social media for the defensiveness of some members of the city government. Says he wants public to stay engaged and keep attending meetings. Suggests having a subcommittee to work on citizen's review of police department, suggests that existing committees come together to establish a new working group.

7:38 p.m. Ald. Braithwaite says most disturbing piece of the Crosby tape was the violence inflicted on Crosby after he was taken to the ground. Suggests that internal discipline be made clear and transparent to the community. Says residents should be notified when their complaints are addressed by the city. Thanks members of the public who commented.

7:34 p.m. Ald. Braithwaite compliments Mr. Bobkiewicz for his work on the reform process, suggests the Crosby arrest would not have happened the same way if it had been a white woman instead of a black man behind the wheel.

7:33 p.m. Mayor Tisdahl says she would appreciate having citizen input into complaint process.

7:32 p.m. Ald. Wilson asks about contact card changes to makes sure demographic information is being collected.

7:30 p.m. Mr. Bobkiewicz explains procedure changes, including adopting the "National Consensus Policy on Use of Force," changing procedure in officer field encounters to include a "decline to ID" option, creation of a Use of Force Committee, the implementation of a new on-line services to provide best practices and policies to officers and hiring a new City Equity and Empowerment Coordinator. Bobkiewicz again emphasizes he owns full responsibility for Police incidents but wants as much help from the City Council Human Services Committee and rest of the community as possible.

7:23 p.m. Mr. Bobkiewicz explains the city plans to disband the Police-appointed Evanston Police Advisory Committee, with full complaint review responsibilities to be given to the Mayor-appointed Citizen Police Advisory Committee and existing City Council Human Services Committee. Says he plans to look for more ways to use two more groups, the Police Advisory Board (made up of residents) and the Evanston Citizen Police Association (made up of businesses).

7:18 p.m. Mr. Bobkiewicz explains Dr. Logan will hold many community town halls as part of a "Diversity & Inclusion Retainer Agreement." He says much more data will be presented every month to the Human Services Committee. Says Chief Eddington now agrees that body cameras should be used and department will work with Northwestern University Police to implement cameras.

7:15 p.m. Mr. Bobkiewicz begins reading the "Police Department Policies and Procedures Update" (Found on page 17 of the meeting agenda)

7:13 p.m. Mr. Bobkiewicz thanks committee for understanding the police department needs to work on "continuous improvement," and he says Evanston community must be involved in that process.

7:10 p.m. Mr. Bobkiewicz recounts past work at Human Services Committee meetings. Says "all the changes we make...do not make these incidents [Crosby, Reid arrests] go away." Takes full responsibility for these incidents.

7:08 p.m. City Manager Mr. Wally Bobkiewicz reads a prepared statement.

7:07 p.m. Citizen comment period ends.

7:05 p.m. Ms. Fulse-Gentle says she grew up with a father in Evanston PD. Says she recounts that EPD has become increasingly militarized and not good for community policing, and it's a stark contrast with the way EPD functioned while she was growing up. Suggests there a disconnect between "what Evanston values" and the behavior of EPD, recommends better training and on-boarding.

7:04 p.m. Mr. Devon Reid says it's important to note these changes did not happen last year, and it's only because of the Crosby video and transparency that any changes have been proposed.

7:03 p.m. Mr. Blair says the issue is not just Evanston, but "color in this country." Notes area universities have suggestions about ways to fix racial problems. Says "let me help," and says he has the support of the governor, and is currently working to build economic development in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood.

7:01 p.m. A community member says "it sounds like we are on our way to another Holocaust," notes "nuisance houses," says it's mostly African-American community members being driven out. "We cannot say that we are a model city anymore."

6:58 p.m. Ms. Madeline DuPree says she wrote the Department of Justice in order to investigate Evanston police. Thanks the community for attending the meeting. Says grandchildren still experience trauma from experiences with police. Notes some police are doing a great job, and they should be retained whether they live in Evanston or not.

6:56 p.m. Nabors says the community must be part of the development of any new policy planning, and sees what currently happening "is you are bringing us a plan, a proposal for policy, and we have not had an opportunity to be able to talk about that and give our concerns," says solution is that everyone must be around the table. Right now, "it feels like it's the African-American community versus the police department," and he says, no parent should feel unsafe letting their child out on the street at dusk. Largest applause of night so far.

6:53 p.m. Rev. Michael Nabors says he's received complaints about the Evanston Police Department. Says it's important to look at the problem with a wider lens rather than specific cases. It affects the whole community, not just with black community, he says. Says everybody has to be at the table and it's necessary to "break through the silos" that separate politicians, experts, community groups and others. Says nobody going to come solve the problem for Evanston, it must be done by its citizens.

6:51 p.m. Ms. Betsy Clark says research shows young people can move ahead if government can just get out of the way. Says Miami has demonstrated successful reform techniques.

6:48 p.m. Ms. Anna Roosevelt, an archaeologist, says she's observed bias by the Evanston Police Department. Says her former house-sitter says he was regularly profiled by EPD, and says police have accused teens that she has hired to rake her lawn of theft. Notes the historic role of Evanston's African-American community and that the city must plan to make the community truly integrated.

6:46 p.m. A Northwestern grad student emphasizes the concern of students about the police.

6:42 p.m. Ms. Melissa Blount says the community engagement has been missing so far. Says Chief Eddington was lacking an informed perspective at community meeting. Says the whole reform process should be slowed and expresses that the city manager may have a conflict of interest vis a vis Crosby-related lawsuit. Suggests it is dangerous to establish an "us-versus-them" mentality and that it's important to understand police are functioning within a narrative of white supremacy, regardless of the race of the officer.

6:38 p.m. A member of the community says she wants to teach her children to trust police, but because her children has brown skin she is not able to. Says many were "jarred awake" by arrests of Reid and Crosby. Says the city must focus on accountability, recognizes city is working on improvement, but it must include public input. Suggest police stop racial profiling and reconsider escalation of traffic stops, asks for official response to proposed approach.

6:35 p.m. Mr. Jones discusses the impact of the Crosby and Reid arrests. Mentions the impact of arrest records on employment practices as well as statistics about racial disparities in police records. Says it's important to work to expunge arrest records.

6:32 p.m. Ms. Hester suggests more people be made aware of citizen advisory board.

6:30 p.m. A member of the public suggests citizens be involved in the EPD diversity and inclusion program.

6:29 p.m. Ms. Stephanie Moffit, a NU grad student, reminds committee members that university students are a part of the community and must feel safe.

6:26 p.m. Mr. Junad Rizki says the mayor and city council are the problem, rather than police. Lists several examples of what he says are kickbacks and backdoor payments to mayor and council members, as well as funds that have been "quietly taken away it appears and not given to the residents." Suggests the committee should look into deal with Northwestern Police.

6:24 p.m. Ms. Peggy Tarr comments on previous community meeting with Chief Eddington. She says Eddington's answer at the meeting confirms that Crosby had been profiled by police prior to his arrest. She says she and many residents do not believe the department is free from racism. She says when there's no punishment for police wrongdoing people will not report crimes to police, and changes are needed to create respect between community and police.

6:22 p.m. Another commentor, who handles pest problems for the Field Museum, explains poison doesn't work on rats, who are smart enough to learn to avoid traps and poisons. He agrees that only a reduction in food for rats is a solution.

6:21 p.m. Ms. Theresa Horton, reproductive physiologist, comments on rodent problem. Says the problem is food. Explains spontaneous rat abortions. Suggests closing garbage cans and clean up streets to control rodents.

6:19 p.m. Wilson says citizens must have trust in complaint process, which currently requires complaints be filed with police officers.

6:15 p.m. Wilson says there needs to be real accountability. "The incredibly small number of complaints that are filed tells us something is drastically wrong." Says people must understand they have a voice in police function. Recommends members of a new oversight board be drawn from each neighborhood in proportion with police-citizen contact in a given district or ward.

6:10 p.m. Public comment begins with Betsy Wilson of Sentencing Advocacy Group of Evanston. She says it's necessary to reach out to members of the community to see what they need to feel more trust and engagement with law enforcement.

6:08 p.m. Joint meeting of Evanston City Council and Human Services Committee gets underway. Past meeting's minutes are approved.