By Annie MartinThe Daily Northwestern
Evanston residents need to work together to prevent crime in their neighborhoods, a Chicago minister told parents, students and educators Saturday morning at a community meeting at Evanston Township High School.
Rev. Michael Pfleger spoke at “Partnering Toward a Safer Evanston,” an event sponsored by the city, Evanston/Skokie School District 65, ETHS and Northwestern as a way to mediate conversation about crime and possible solutions. Several hundred people attended the meeting, including about half a dozen NU students.
“My most serious concerns have to do with the safety and security of our students living off-campus,” NU Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis said.
Banis said burglaries are a big problem for off-campus students over the breaks when they go home. He said he also was concerned about robberies and assaults, especially because there have been several repeat offenders.
Associated Student Government External Relations Chairman Ravi Singh said there needs to be more communication between NU and the city.
“There needs to be a student voice at these meetings,” the Weinberg senior said. “We need to bridge the gap between Evanston and Northwestern because they are one and the same.”
Pfleger said that while blue-light emergency phones, cameras and other security devices can be effective, the most important way to prevent crime is to be vigilant. Pfleger led his church on the South Side of Chicago to significantly reduce crime in what once was one of the most troubled areas in the city, he said.
“We have to understand that nothing is going to happen that we will not tolerate in our neighborhood,” Pfleger said. “We become afraid of our own communities and we surrender them to someone else.”
Pfleger told a story about how he took a group of senior citizens to a block infiltrated by the drug trade and told them to write down license plate numbers and get descriptions of the offenders. Although many of the seniors could not actually read the license plates, their presence halted the drug dealing in the area, Pfleger said.
“It does not take the power of an authority,” Pfleger said. “It takes the power of a community.”
Pfleger also encouraged residents to stop the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors by boycotting stores that do not comply with the law.
“It’s time to go to our store owners and tell them they cannot do whatever it takes to make a profit,” Pfleger said.
Interim Police Chief Dennis Nilsson said that while most forms of crime are going down in Evanston, the number of robberies increased by 11 percent between 2005 and 2006 and burglaries rose by 37 percent. About 3 percent of the population is committing about 97 percent of the crime, he said.
“These are the crimes that start to eat away at the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Nilsson said.
Nilsson said he also was concerned about “quality of life crimes,” including fighting, noisy parties and vandalism.
“Any crime is too much,” Nilsson said.
After the presentations, participants broke into groups to discuss what they thought the major problems were in their neighborhoods and brainstorm solutions. Each group then shared its ideas with the other groups. Keeping young people away from drugs and violence was a priority for many, as was forming neighborhood watch groups.
“It seemed like three or four issues kept coming up,” Singh said. “The issues transcend all neighborhoods and different segments of the population.”
Betsy Jenkins, a program manager at the Evanston recreation department, brought a group of middle-school students to the event in hopes that they could give input about how to keep youth away from crime. Jenkins said the group conversations made her realize that other people recognize what’s wrong and that many are having similar problems in their neighborhoods.
Another meeting will be held in March.
Reach Annie Martin at [email protected].
