Evanston Patch article misleads on EPD comparison data

Submitted by Jim Hughes on Wed, 07/15/2020 - 14:12

Hi everyone,

I read this Evanston Patch article last night … and checked some of the references used… then found the numbers did not add up.

The article is ... Patch 7/14/2020: Amid Calls To 'Defund Police,' Evanston Mayor, Chief Talk Budget

From the article sub-headline: “Evanston's ratio of police to residents has been among the highest in Illinois.”

There is a lot of outside data in the article and that data generally supports the sub-headline despite the errors.

The article quotes two outside data sources to make comparisons with EPD ... this is where things go off track. 

I quote the article below and then the correction I think needs to be made.

  1. “Evanston's ratio of police personnel to population – about 269 department employees to 100,000 residents — compares to that of San Francisco, Miami or Little Rock, Arkansas, according to an analysis by the Vera Institute of Justice cited by Papachristos."

269 per 100,000 residents is about right for Evanston.  But the data for the other cities is actually the number of residents per police department employee … and not employees per hundred thousand residents.  So, this is not a valid comparison. Evanston actually has 364 residents per police department employee.  A much higher ratio than these three cities which run from 260-275.

 

  1. “Chicago's police to resident ratio is 40 percent lower — just 183 employees per 100,000 Chicagoans."

Chicago actually has about 506 employees per 100,000 residents.  Evanston has about 270. So, Chicago is actually about 100% higher and not 40% lower.

  1. “Apart from Chicago, Evanston had the fourth highest ratio of police to residents in the state, trailing only Addison, Elk Grove Village and Carbondale.”

The data for this comparison was from 2016 when Evanston PD  had 227 employees.  In 2020 that number is now 202 with unfilled open positions.  That would put Evanston at about 7th highest (below Chicago) on the list of 52 Illinois police departments. Still high on this measure when compared to 52 others in the database.  But in the top 15% not in the top 10%.

Jim Hughes

2518 Hartzell St.

 

Marching Along Central Street ... 13 Years ... And Still Rolling

Submitted by CSNA on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 20:13

A Happy and Safe 4th... CSNA

Participate in the City Manager Selection Process

Submitted by CSNA on Thu, 07/02/2020 - 18:20

What does it take to be our City Manager?

We can have our say by participating in the selection process.  CSNA spoke out to get the decision process back to the residents of Evanston.  Now it is our turn.

  • Attend a virtual public meeting to offer your input. Remember to register ahead of time:

Register here for the Zoom meeting Tuesday July 7 at 6:00 PM

  • Can't attend the virtual meeting? Take the survey. It is only eight questions and there is ample room for comment:

Evanston City Manager Position Profile - Community Survey

  • Or ... If you would like to email the survey company directly with additional feedback, you may send your comments and suggestions to this email address:

EvanstonCityManager@GovHRUSA.com

Hecky Powell Tribute on PBS NewsHour Tonight

Submitted by CSNA on Fri, 06/12/2020 - 15:23

The Evanston RoundTable carried the following story yesterday:

"Hecky Powell May Be Profiled on PBS NewsHour on June 12"

Thursday, June 11, 2020 8:06 AM

"Hecky Powell may be profiled in the “In Memoriam” segment on the PBS NewsHour this Friday, June 12. 

The “In Memoriam” segment honors five people who recently died from COVID-19. 

The segment will air during the NewsHour broadcast on the local PBS affiliate, WTTW Channel 11, at 6 p.m.  

Hecky Powell, a lifelong Evanston resident, passed away Friday, May 22."

Friends of Lovelace Park Pollinator Garden

Submitted by CSNA on Mon, 06/08/2020 - 09:13

Twelve dedicated volunteers spent more than two hours on Saturday, June 6 preparing and planting a Pollinator Garden at Lovelace Park.

Thanks to the Highland Park Garden Club that donated a flat of 38 plants and Leslie Shad from Natural Habitat Evanston who arranged for Friends of Lovelace Park to be the recipient.

For more information and to get involved, visit lovelacepark.com.

Expediency over Equity and Transparency in Evanston

Submitted by CSNA on Sat, 06/06/2020 - 16:04

Dear Neighbors,

The Central Street Neighbors Association shares the concerns expressed by the Evanston Minority Business Consortium (EMBC), Organization for Positive Action (OPAL), and others with respect to the surprise discussion by the Council recently suggesting simply hiring the acting City Manager, Erika Storlie as City Manager rather than finding a replacement for Wally Bobkiewicz through an open public process.

We urge the City to either use the transparent public selection process or postpone the decision until after the 2021 municipal election.
 
The move to preempt the current transparent and public City Manager selection process has multiple problems.
 
• It is bad for Evanston government … or any government.

  • It’s not transparent.
  • It’s not on the public agenda.
  • It’s impulsive.

• It preempts resident input.
 
That input was promised, through surveys, focus groups, and other means, and the proposed promotion would break that promise.
 
• It is tone deaf.
 
Short circuiting the public selection process is a tone-deaf disregard of heightened public sensitivity to historic racial equity issues in Evanston.
 
• It is untimely.
 
In less than a year Evanston will have a new Council and Mayor, who should not be saddled with a chief executive not of their choice. In a few months, we will have national elections, the results of which will enormously impact the potential federal funds on which Illinois and/or Evanston can count in the next few years of attempted recovery.
 
• It undercuts confidence in addressing current challenges.
 
The greatest challenge facing the City near-term is going to be fiscal, and serious questions exist as to what current City government — elected and staff — did to foresee and minimize that. A near-equal challenge is to restore confidence in City government. A hire by fiat addresses neither of these major issues.
 
• It does not restore confidence in addressing past mistakes:

  • Discrimination settlements
  • James Park litigation
  • Harley Clarke alienation
  • Controversial personnel decisions

• It has all the appearance of taking advantage of the pandemic for political expediency.
 
This move to preempt has occurred during a time in which no one could attend Council meetings, no one could assemble to discuss, no one could protest, no one could petition. A move to appoint a City Manager without public process would compound distrust created by this dynamic.
 
CSNA strongly urges the council to either get back on the transparent public selection process track OR  keep Ms. Storlie as Acting City Manager, and let the next Council and Mayor make the decision after a round of elections in which the public will have opportunity to vet candidates on their priorities for the City’s chief executive.

Please write your alderperson and let them know how you feel. This item is on the agenda for introduction this Monday June 8, 2020 5:30 PM. You can also follow the agenda link to sign up to speak via phone or video at the beginning of the meeting.

1st Ward - Judy Fiske: jfiske@cityofevanston.org
5th Ward - Robin Rue Simmons: rsimmons@cityofevanston.org
6th Ward - Tom Suffredin: tsuffredin@cityofevanston.org
7th Ward - Eleanor Revelle: erevelle@cityofevanston.org 

OPAL has also written a letter and is sponsoring both a rally and a petition.

CSNA
CSNABoard@googlegroups.com

Greenbay Road Renovations -Thurs. Feb 20th 7:00 Ecology Center

Submitted by Mary Rosinski on Wed, 02/19/2020 - 20:52

From Eleanors Ward Page. Please come and bring yout thoughts. It has been a good process so far.

Green Bay Road Improvement Project

Work is underway to develop a project proposal to improve the safety for all modes of transportation along the Green Bay Road corridor between McCormick Boulevard and Isabella Street. An initial public meeting was held on December 11 to provide an overview of the project and solicit community input.

Consultants with Kimley Horn are working on a revised project proposal based on this input. The revised proposal will be presented at a second community meeting on February 20, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Evanston Ecology Center.

A webpage with information about the project, including the presentation from the December 11 community meeting, is available here.

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