A cleanup program in suburban Evanston has been suspended after a crew was captured on video apparently assaulting an individual that they had seen urinating on a utility box.
According to Evanston officials, the Streetplus program, which was launched in Nov. 2022, has been halted at least temporarily after the release of the footage.
“It is incredibly disturbing,” first ward Ald. Clare Kelly said. “I watched it with dread.”
Downtown cameras captured the incident on Monday when a crew from Streetplus arrived at Fountain Square. At that point, they spotted an individual who was apparently urinating on a nearby utility box.
The crew, clad in blue coats, is seen in the video going over to the individual, and a verbal altercation begins. A short time later that altercation turned physical, with the crew assaulting the individual in the recorded clip.
“The actions captured in the footage of this incident are disturbing and entirely unacceptable, and are not in line with the city’s values,” officials said in a statement. “The city has immediately suspended the Streetplus program pending further investigation of this incident.”
Streetplus was launched in Nov. 2022 to provide “enhanced cleaning, maintenance and landscaping services” in the city.
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The group is responsible for outdoor furniture maintenance, graffiti removal, litter cleanup and other jobs.
Evanston police say they have assigned a detective to the case, and that they will determine whether any charges need to be filed.
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Kelly says the city will also need to evaluate its relationship not just with this vendor, but all vendors that are hired from outside of city limits.
“I know there are firms with strong reputations also in Chicago that do this,” she said of the cleanup work. “I did have mixed feelings about hiring a firm that’s not from this area.”
Streetplus has not yet responded to requests for comment from NBC 5.
