De-Policing 911 calls

Nov 4, 20212 min read

One year after its establishment, the City Council's Alternative Emergency Response Subcommittee will begin working with the state to implement a plan for alternate responders to address behavioral- and mental-health related 911 calls.

Read more by reporter Ilana Arougheti, in the The Daily Northwestern.

Great work by the Alternative Emergency Response Subcommittee. The subcommittee, chaired by Cicely Fleming, 9, is responsible for developing a non police response to members of the community who are in need of immediate support (not including life saving medical situations).

In addition to Fleming, members are:

Eleanor Revelle, 7

Evangeline Semark Maureen McDonnell Kristen Kennard Patti Capouch James Barnett

Angela Valavanis

In other law enforcement news, last Monday the Reimagining Public Safety Committee, appointed by Mayor Biss right before he was sworn in as Mayor on May 10 this year, voted that EPD should not be allowed to ask drivers to consent to vehicle searches following a traffic stop, and to end traffic stops for license plate, broken equipment (such as tail lights), or registration violations. For vehicle searches, officers would need a warrant or probable cause.

You can watch the meeting on You Tube.

The recommendations will now go to City Council for consideration.

In 2017, a study from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill found that Evanston police were seven times more likely to search a Black driver than a white one in 2014.

In 2019, the EPD launched a statistics dashboard where residents can see crime rate data and data on traffic stops and arrests. After seeking resident input last month, a new dashboard is now under construction that aims, said EPD, to present a more robust dashboard to the public.