3 Fired, 1 Suspended, None Charged In Streetplus 'Physical Encounter' In Downtown Evanston

EVANSTON, IL — The Streetplus Clean Team program is poised to resume operations in Evanston Monday after the city contractor pledged to take action in response to last month's physical altercation between its staff and a man they encountered urinating near Fountain Square, city officials said.

Company officials have "acknowledged the incident was unacceptable" and agreed to terminate three employees, suspend another without pay for three days and require extra training for all present and future Streetplus employees in Evanston, according to city staff.

Steve Hillard, president of the New York-based contractor, told city staff his company had never experienced a similar incident in its 31 years of operations. In a letter to Evanston City Manager Luke Stowe, Hillard said the clean team will remain under the same leadership.

"A review of the incident revealed additional training is required for our employees to be safe and effective on the streets in Evanston's business district," Hillard said.

Mandatory training for new and existing employees includes: anger management, strategies for dealing with mentally ill people, interacting effectively with homeless people, civil and criminal liability, communication mistakes and "staying safe through tactical thinking," among other things, according to Hillard.

Two company vice presidents are in Evanston through Friday to administer the discipline, conduct training and review the incident with its employees, Hillard said.

Once the city restores its $508,000 contract, which has been funded by federal COVID-19 relief dollars, the Streetplus president said the company would begin the process of replacing the terminated employees.

"Streetplus takes full responsibility for the inappropriate actions by some of our employees and our approach to discipline is aggressive," Hillard said.

"It is important to remember this entire incident was provoked and continued by the aggressive behavior, verbal threat of violence and bodily harm, vulgar language and physical battery committed against our employees by the individual," he told the city manager. "However, the continued involvement by three of our employees after the initial physical encounter, violated company practices, resulting in involuntary termination."

Evanston police have closed their investigation into the incident, according to a statement from city staff. No one involved wanted to press charges, and no arrests were made.

City staff pledged to closely monitor the company's performance and "consider future contract renewals accordingly."

Earlier: Streetplus Contractors Beat Man Found Urinating In Downtown Evanston