On Tuesday, February 18,  Citizens Network of Protection learned that Evanston Police Chief Demitrous Cook posted out-of-date Evanston Police booking photographs of living and deceased residents to the public page of his personal snapchat account. 

This is a type of public shaming of residents who may only have been charged with but not convicted of a crime and is an abuse of community trust to imply guilt before trial.   This publication also included a juvenile whose conviction has been expunged.

When we reached out to the Evanston Police department earlier this week to ask if they have a social media policy, they said no. When we asked if they follow the United States Department of Justice national guidelines on social media use, they said no.

Today, Police Chief Demitrous Cook held a press conference to explain why he posted these photos on a public forum and to apologize for his actions. (The names and faces below were blurred by Citizens Network of Protection, not by Evanston Police Department/Chief Cook).

While we respect his attempt to bring some transparency to the matter the City did not post the event on its website or social media accounts and therefore the public was not aware of this press conference and we could not participate. 

We are particularly concerned with his claim that “this was done so he could capture a high-resolution image of these photos for his own personal research into these cases.” He incorrectly claimed that “Snapchat takes higher-resolution photos than his own smartphone’s camera.” Actually, Snapchat photo quality is significantly lower than the smartphone’s native camera app. A quick Google search will show you that this is common knowledge. 

We disagree with this assessment and question Chief Cook’s explanation of how and why the photos ended up posted on Snapchat.

In addition to answering these questions about this post by Chief Cook, the Evanston Police Department clearly needs to develop a strong social media policy and train its members. 

-CNP Board

It was the fall of 2015 when I first met CNP co-founder and president, Betty Ester. She had contacted the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where I was a 2L at the time, in an effort to find a law student to assist CNP with improving police accountability, oversight, and transparency in Evanston.  The Public Interest Director at Loyola informed me that Betty wanted to have a meeting. I eagerly agreed because I had already had experience working in law firms handling police misconduct cases involving the Chicago PD and I wanted to dedicate as much time as possible to helping people that have been harmed by police.
I did not fully understand the problems facing black and brown communities in Evanston until I met Betty. I quickly learned how the Evanston Police Department and the City of Evanston has had so many of the same problems of police misconduct, lawsuits, racial inequality, and inadequate civilian oversight as what I knew to be true in cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and New York. The closer I started to look, it became evident that there was a dark side to the Evanston PD. 

I am proud to do this work with CNP because we are working towards bringing about systemic change. I firmly believe that the power and authority that the police have belongs to the people. CNP helps people recognize that power, fights tirelessly to help people who have been harmed by police, and is dedicated to re-imagining the role that police play in our everyday lives.   

A frantic lady screening from the porch

“The police are taking my son to jail, 

he was only twenty  (20) steps 

from his home.” She called me, shouting,

“I am in the bathroom at the police station. 

They are trying to come into the bathroom.” 

 Shout out that you are talking to your lawyer.

The lady went home with her son and 

a station adjustment.

It hurt me to see the young kids not allowed

to wait for their ride in from of the theatre. 

But march to the corner of Maple and Church

street and standing in a huddle like cows. 

Seeing this and heard that Black kids

are picked up by the EDP all of the time 

breaking the curfew when their parents are 

10 minute late and they tell the police

they are on their way. 

They had to go to the EPD station and

sing a station adjustment.

That is why  I got involved with the Citizens’ Network of Protection. 

By Betty Ester

President/Co-Founder

Why you think Evanston needs Citizens Network of Protection?

There is police misconduct, ranging from harassment to the killing of people, in places all over the U.S. Evanston is no exception. This fact is, in my experience, less widely understood by white people than by Black people in Evanston. The CNP works to raise awareness of police misconduct in Evanston in order to help people work towards decreasing the amount of police misconduct in Evanston.

In addition, in many places in the U.S., including in Evanston,  there are difficulties, and sometimes actual obstacles, in the way of people filing complaints when they are the victims of police misconduct. Help is needed and CNP provides help to Evanston residents who are aged 23 and older in filing such complaints.  (Other organizations exist to help younger people.)

Part of the help that CNP provides is educating people about their rights. For example, what are a person’s rights when encountered by the police? For individuals in Evanston to know their rights  is important for improving the relations between the police and everyone in Evanston, given that the police here are supposed to serve and protect every single person in Evanston. The CNP works towards the realization of that role for police.

Why does the Evanston Police department need to reform it’s nuisance citation policy?

I recently learned about the city and state nuisance policies at a CNP educational forum. I am extremely concerned that homeowners can and do lose their homes due to citations under this ordinance. Nuisance citations can arise when neighbors dislike neighbors and want them gone from their neighborhood. This is wrong and CNP is needed to help make this right. CNP focuses on police accountability, police transparency, and community oversight of the police. Evanston residents need to know their rights when police confront them with an alleged nuisance citation. CNP helps with this community education.

Thank you for reading my thoughts. encourage  you as residents in Evanston to become engaged in conversation about these two topics. I look forward to reading your thoughts.

Elizabeth Meadows – CNP Board Member