North Cook News

An Evanston Township High School (ETHS) student is under investigation for bringing a loaded gun to school.

“ETHS officials learned today through our Acknowledge, Care, Tell steps that a student brought a loaded gun to school. The Evanston Police Department is conducting a thorough investigation,” the school district said in a press release. “School officials have no knowledge of any threat or any danger to students or staff due to the report of the gun. The district will continue to cooperate fully with EPD during their investigation. We have been in touch with the student’s family regarding any appropriate disciplinary action.” 

The press release said the safety and wellbeing of students and staff are a top priority.

“Students are encouraged to report any suspicious activity to an ETHS staff member, or to use the ETHS or EPD anonymous Text-A-Tip message lines," the release said. “Please be assured that we continue to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our students and staff at ETHS. We continue to ask that every member of our school community practice Acknowledge, Care, Tell to keep each other safe. We are here to provide mental health support as needed, which begins with social workers." 

Crime is on the rise in Evanston for the year, Evanston Now reported. So far in 2022, person-to-person crimes have increased by a third and property crimes nearly as much at 29%. 

The report delivered in early October revealed one of the city’s main issues, recruitment and retainment of police in the wake of a successful drive to “defund the police” in Evanston in 2020. In fact, the report was delivered by Interim Police Chief Richard Eddington in his pentultimate day in the role. Eddington said police officers have been fleeing the department for surrounding jurisdictions. 

After the police department had its funding slashed, crime has risen across the community, including in homicide rates in 2021 being the highest since 2010.

The Wall Street Journal devoted time to its editorial page to debate the ensuing debacle calling Evanston a “case study” on how such politicization can have very real, negative consequences in communities. 

“The defund movement definitely had a negative effect on our morale and our ability to retain our employees,” Ryan Glew, the police public information officer, told WSJ. Glew added the cut in funding means departments cannot respond to all 911 calls in a timely manner due to staffing issues. Even though the police had funding restored earlier this year, the effects are still being felt.

The crime problem is part of a broader issue for the region critics say is due to lax prosecution under Kim Foxx's tenure as state's attorney for Cook County. In Chicago, the number of murders has drastically climbed recently, reaching new highs not seen since 1994. In 2022 alone, burglaries increased by 33%, thefts increased by 61% and auto thefts increased by 45%, according to the Chicago Sun Times.