Evanston’s first permanent female police chief was just sworn in on Monday and she already has big plans for connecting with residents, NBC 5’s Vi Nguyen reports.
Schenita Stewart is ready to hit the ground running just one day after being sworn in as the new Evanston Police Chief.
“This is an unbelievable opportunity and I’m just honored to be the chief for the Evanston Police Department,” she said. “I’m still taking it all in right now, but that’s why I’m still smiling.”
Her appointment is described as historic for Evanston. She’s now the first permanent female police chief leading the department.
“It was just taking it all in,” she said. “It’s more of an appointment for the city, for my family, for my friends, my coworkers—past and present.”
Stewart has strong ties to the community with roots tracing back more than a century as a fourth generation Evanstonian.
“My family came here in 1916,” she said. “I’m honored and privileged. My family left South Carolina for a better life, my great grandparents, and to be here, sitting today to have this opportunity is probably so overwhelming right now.”
She credits her grandfather and her mother for supporting her 23-year career in law enforcement.
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“My mom is my best friend. She’s my biggest motivator,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for a better mother. I don’t want to get emotional, but she’s absolutely wonderful.”
Stewart began her career as a probation officer in Cook County. She then moved to Lincolnwood where she rose through the ranks from patrol officer to the deputy chief—a position she most recently held for the East Dundee Police Department.
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“Definitely the profession has changed, but I think we’re in a good position to be part of that change,” she said. “Reform is change right, there’s good things that come with change.”
But her appointment comes at a time where her department is facing staffing shortages and low morale. She told NBC 5 she wants to tackle these issues and rebuild trust and community engagement.
“We have got to get out of the office,” she said. “We have got to get out of the car and we have got to start engaging the community and everyday we should take the opportunity to meet someone new—have positive engagement. Not everything has to be negative.”
While these changes won’t happen overnight, she knows her department will get there with support from the community.
“Let’s go forward, let’s start building back this partnership,” she said. “Lets work on our staffing, work on our officers’ wellness and morale and get going.”
Stewart vows her department will be transparent in a time where tensions are high following the murder of George Floyd.
“We have to be transparent, and I hope that the public holds us accountable when incidents like that happen, and as a chief of police I hold my staff accountable,” she said.
Chief Stewart told NBC 5 she’s in the process of starting “Coffee with The Chief.” A community event she hopes to roll out in all nine wards giving residents an opportunity to get to know her and her officers.
