Evanston's Schenita Stewart named Illinois Police Chief of the Year
In yet another honor, Stewart was celebrated at an April 10 Cook County Board of Commissioners meeting when a resolution was passed in her honor for the Chief of the Year award.
Commander Ryan Glew said during her tenure, Stewart led the department to fill vacancies, increase efforts to support officer mental wellness, and oversaw a full calendar year without a murder in Evanston, a feat not seen in Evanston since the 1970s, if not before, Glew said.
Stewart, a native of Evanston's 5th Ward, began her career as a police officer with the Lincolnwood Police Department in 1999, and left that department as its deputy chief in 2021. Stewart then joined the East Dundee Police Department as its deputy chief, and left that department to be appointed as the first Black and female Chief of Police for Evanston in October 2022.
'I am obviously honored to receive this award. I've been fortunate to have great mentors, a supportive family, a strong supervisor, and a city manager who believed in me. Any success I've had is because of the people who poured into me. That's why I've never been big on awards—they often recognize one person, but not the many who helped along the way,' Stewart said in a statement to Pioneer Press.
During Stewart's approximately 30 months as the department's chief, the department cut its vacancies from 26 to 11 by hiring 44 officers. Glew said the new hires are a mix of first-time officers and lateral hires from other departments, including the Chicago Police Department.
Glew said the Evanston Police Department has some built-in advantages. For early career officers, Evanston can further an individual's career because it has a traffic unit, narcotics unit, detective bureau, juvenile investigations unit, and a problem-solving team unit, which not all police departments have.
Evanston also can be enticing for Chicago officers who want a better work-life balance, want to ensure that they have days off, and won't have constant 12-hour shifts in the summer, Glew said.
'The chief has been a champion of officer wellness (and) setting up a culture in the department that we address (mental health),' Glew said. Under her leadership, the department has added civilian staff to receive annual wellness checks, which can be important for dispatchers who take emergency calls and affiliate staff who handle sensitive documents.
Glew also credits Stewart for using information from computer data and from people off the street to make Evanston safer. In 2024, Evanston went the whole year without a murder. The last one was in April 2023.
In August 2024, two shooting incidents occurred within 24 hours of each other in the vicinity of Dodge Avenue and Dempster Street, per police records.
'When we had those shootings, we were able to meet with the community almost immediately,' Glew said. 'Both those shootings were not connected with each other, but we were able to make arrests very quickly.'
'So you have traditional investigative police work, bringing arrests, closing those cases, and working closely with elected officials to get the information to community members and people who live in that area that they need,' Glew said.
During Stewart's tenure as police chief, the department also rolled out its Transparency Hub, a free portal to data on crime, community engagement, workforce diversity, community programs and feedback.
When asked if she had any new or future plans in the works, Stewart said, 'My plan is to keep the good momentum going. The department's accomplishments will need to be maintained and evolve, and that is my focus.'
At the Cook County Commissioners meeting, Stewart thanked the county, as well as Evanston City Manager Luke Stowe and Evanston Police Department staff. Stewart said she accepted the award in honor of Oak Park Detective Allan Reddins, who was fatally shot in November 2024.
In a news release from the city, Stowe said, 'We're incredibly proud of Chief Stewart and thankful to the Cook County Board of Commissioners for recognizing her accomplishments. Having her come back to lead the department in her hometown is a full-circle moment that truly shows her dedication to public service.'
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