Ald. Arthur Newman (1st) and the police chiefs for Evanston and Northwestern met with a judge Tuesday to express their concerns about the amount of a bond for two men accused of robbing NU students, but they are unsure of the meeting’s results.
At the City/Northwestern Neighborhood Issues Task Force meeting Jan. 29, Newman told NU administrators that he and Evanston Police Department Chief Frank Kaminski were planning to meet with a judge, Shelley Sutker-Dermer, at the Cook County Circuit Court in Skokie in hopes of raising the amount of the bond. NU administrators responded by saying they would like to send someone with the city officials to show their mutual concern.
“They have to throw the book at (the accused) and not just let them out on bond again,” Newman said.
NU and city officials wanted judges to be more strict with people arrested in connection with crimes such as robbery, especially when they put a lot of effort into arresting them, Kaminski said at the task force meeting.
Evanston residents Anthony L. Jones, 20, of the 1300 block of Fowler Avenue, and Tavares Z. Tyson, 21, of the 1800 block of Lemar Avenue, were arrested by university and Evanston police Nov. 22 in connection with the robbery of a graduate student. They were charged with several Fall Quarter robberies and attacks on students and will go to trial Feb. 19.
Newman declined to comment on how much impact the attendance of an NU representative had on getting the group’s message to the judge, but he said that overall the judge’s response was “very positive.” Newman said he is unsure whether judges will set higher bonds in the future and that because of bureaucracy, changes might be slow in coming.
“Unless we try it, we’ll get nothing,” Newman said.
University Police Chief Bruce Lewis, who represented NU at the meeting, also said the judge’s response was what they were seeking.
“The judicial system was amenable to receiving our concerns and seemingly committed to working to address some of those issues,” Lewis said.
The meeting came on the same day as the settlement of a lawsuit filed by NU against the city, but Newman said city-university relations and cooperation have not changed recently.
“We’ve been working with Northwestern on stuff the past three or four years,” Newman said. “I think Northwestern generally tries to cooperate with the city when it’s in their interests.”
“The city has been doing a good job whether it’s being sued or not,” Newman continued, explaining that while the lawsuit was being settled, the city had granted extended UP jurisdiction in Evanston.
“On the issue of student safety, the ball is in the court of the (NU) administration,” he added. “The more numbers of the University Police, the safer you’ll be on campus.”
The Daily’s Scott Gordon and Sheila Burt contributed to this report.
