Jan. 22--Evanston police are beefing up patrols along the CTA Purple Line and Metra stops in the wake of a robbery near the Main Purple Line stop and in anticipation of an Evanston newsstand selling Charlie Hebdo newspapers.
Evanston police commander Joseph Dugan said there are "no specific threats or no immediate threats" but police are more frequently patrolling Evanston's seven CTA and three Metra stops in the northern suburb, especially the CTA Main Purple Line station, at 836 Chicago Ave. The stepped up patrols began last week.
A woman was robbed of her iPhone after she exited the Main Purple Line station Jan. 10, Dugan said. Also, the Purple Line station is near the Chicago-Main Newsstand, which anticipates that it soon will receive a shipment of Charlie Hebdo newspapers, a French satirical publication that has been in demand after armed gunmen killed 12 people Jan. 7 at the newspaper's offices in Paris.
Chicago-Main Newsstand manager Eric Ismond said he is not sure when or how many copies of Charlie Hebdo will be sent to his newsstand, but he anticipates he will be able to sell a "handful" of publications. Ismond said he may get a shipment as early as Friday.
Ismond said the newsstand has received no threats since recently announcing it would sell copies of Charlie Hebdo. He said Evanston police reached out to him to say they would increase their presence near the store as a precaution.
Dugan said the increased patrols will not cost the police department anything because they are not increasing the number of officers patrolling the area, just the frequency they visit transit stops.
"We definitely appreciate [police] efforts," Ismond said. "We have received no threats. We've only gotten positive feedback from the public that they'll have an opportunity to see the magazine here."
