Cameras would stretch along the entire length of Dodge Avenue and most of Church Street, in order to provide a safe route for kids to walk to school, according to the mayor. A map shows the location of the proposed surveillance cameras.

Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl is recommending that the city add a total of 3.7 miles of surveillance cameras along Church Street and Dodge Avenue.

After a resolution to create a “safe school zone” and extend policing powers around Evanston Township High School failed to pass city council, Tisdahl’s proposal is designed to provide an alternative measure to enhance safety for children walking to and from the high school. 

Speaking before city council members Tisdahl said that students would have fights on school grounds or across the street if they wanted it to be stopped, but if they didn’t want police or school security officers to step in, they would move the fight a few blocks from the high school. 

“I certainly think we owe our students a safe route in and out of high school,” she said. Under the Mayor’s proposal, police would add surveillance cameras along the entire 2.5-mile stretch of Dodge Avenue from Simpson to Howard streets, and along a 1.2-mile stretch of Church Street from city limits at McCormick Boulevard to Ridge Avenue. […]