As Evanston continues to invest in curbing crime, statistics indicate it’s getting some results.
That’s according to Evanston police Chief Schenita Stewart, in her yearly police department address to officials on the city’s current crime trends and review of 911 calls.
According to Stewart, all types of major crime in Evanston continue to fall, a decrease of a little more than 13% over a 12-month period recorded from July 2025 to June 2026.
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Property offenses saw the biggest drop in crime levels, with a reduction of 16.7% over that same 12 months, per police data.
Crimes against persons and crimes against society also dropped by 1.8% and 4.1%, respectively.
“Statistics don’t tell the entire public safety story, but they help us understand what is happening in our community and where we need to focus our resources,” Stewart told City Council members at their Sept. 14 meeting.
“One of the most significant measures of public safety is violent crime,” Stewart added, which over the last 50 years has also been on the decline.
Evanston’s last homicide was more than three years ago, when Skokie resident Jacquis Irby was fatally shot, alongside two other 15-year-olds shot and injured, at the entrance to Clark Street Beach on the Evanston lakefront in April 2023 following a reported “verbal altercation,” according to police.
It’s been “over 1,250 days,” Stewart said, “and shootings remain well below the levels we experienced several years ago.”
She added that the police department has also noted “significant progress” with robberies and motor vehicle thefts, both of which are recorded as declining from recent peaks.
“[Evanston Police Department] EPD continues to work with local agencies to share information, identify offenders, recover stolen vehicles and address patterns that affect multiple communities,” Stewart added.
Over the last 11 months, Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 1, 2026, approximately 26,760 residential calls for service were made to the department, a decrease by nearly 450 from the previous recorded period.
But the work of EPD continues long after the initial 911 response, Stewart told Council members Monday.
“This year our officers handled a number of serious investigations…hours of work that often aren’t visible to the public, such as reviewing video, conducting interviews, following evidence, coordinating with other jurisdictions, identifying suspects and pursuing every available lead.”
In response to Stewart’s presentation, several alderpersons expressed their appreciation of local law enforcement and the work done to facilitate emergency response efforts across all nine wards.
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“You make it easy for everyone in this room to go to sleep tonight, to go to work, to do all the things that we need to do to make the city run and work without second guessing it,” said Ald. Krissie Harris, 2nd, to Stewart.
“At the same time, I also want to acknowledge the work that has been done by other folks in this city to prevent violence from happening in the first place,” said Ald. Jonathan Nieuwsma, 4th, responding to Harris.
Nieuwsma cited additional city departments such as Evanston’s youth and young adult division, workforce development body, the city’s alternate response CARE team and the victim services program.
“I want to particularly call attention to the CARE team and the very collaborative relationship that exists between that unit and your department,” Nieuwsma added.
City Council members allocated $400,000 to support the CARE program’s first phase of development in February 2024. The program is intended to minimize direct law enforcement interactions with residents experiencing a mental health crisis.
Calls phoned to 911 deemed CARE-eligible are re-routed to dispatchers trained in mental health and behavioral response techniques.
“We would be unable to make the most of the CARE team without the extraordinary support we’ve gotten from [Evanston police],” Nieuwsma said.