Some Northwestern students caught at a busted party last weekend were greeted by an unusual sight — a University Police officer and an Evanston Police Department officer emerging from the same car.
This two-man team of party-busters is the latest result of the mutual aid agreement passed by Evanston City Council in January, said Lt. Robert Heytow of the Evanston Police Department.
One EPD car and one UP car were assigned to the off-campus party patrol, which will cruise the streets again this weekend. An EPD officer and a UP officer ride in each car.
“We’ve had a much closer working relationship between departments, as exhibited by this two-man team,” Heytow said. “We’ve always had a good relationship with University Police. I don’t think it was as codified and formalized until recently.”
The mutual aid agreement allows UP to ticket improperly parked cars on city streets, make off-campus arrests and break up loud parties on streets near campus.
Speech junior Eric Svendsen said he thinks more parties have been broken up this year than last year. Police broke up a party held at his apartment two weeks ago.
“When the cops stopped by to bust our party they said they had a list of three or four other parties to bust that night,” Svendsen said.
But Heytow and UP Asst. Chief Daniel McAleer said the number of parties broken up by both departments has remained fairly constant.
In the past, EPD officers would have to request assistance from UP officers to break up a party. The new team allows the two forces to work together without pulling campus police officers off their beats, said Lt. Nick Parashis of UP.
EPD originally proposed the two-man team idea to UP, McAleer said.
“They requested help, and we gave it to them,” he said.
This is the first time EPD and UP officers have shared cars, McAleer said. And this weekend may mark the last time they drive together because the collaboration was only meant to curb excessive partying at the beginning of the school year.
Heytow said the teams will be brought back only if the need arises.
“Our goal isn’t to arrest people,” he said. “It isn’t even to stop people from having fun. Nobody wants to be a stick in the mud. We have to take care of the entire community.”
McAleer said the two forces are no stranger to teamwork. This summer they worked together to catch more drunk drivers.
Officers from both departments met at certain locations and stopped cars at random to see if the driver was intoxicated, he said.
Additionally, bike units have also trained together since the agreement, and UP patrols downtown Evanston four times a night, McAleer said.
Ald. Stephen Engelman (7th) said operating for several years without a formal aid agreement was a bad idea for the city.
“More challenging areas require heightened police presence,” Engelman said. “This puts more eyes and ears on the street.”
