Editor:

Regarding the ICE facility proposal in town, community leaders are extolling the virtues of shoring up a lagging economy, additional property tax monies in local coffers and 100-150 new jobs. These are all positives.

While I read in the paper the concerns about safety at the facility site, I have yet to read about questions involving the issue of associated crimes that come with the influx of all types of big-city residents traveling to visit with the detainees.

Visitors will travel by the carloads to the site to visit with detainees and will end up driving through town.  Our leaders are hoping they will spend their money with our local businesses, but how can we be sure they will not commit crimes in town?

It’s bad enough now during the summer months with transients spending the summers here. Do we want that clutter on a year-round basis? Are the police prepared for increases in crime? Are we prepared for a change in how we live?

Right now few people lock their cars or close their garage doors in town because we feel safe here. What happens when thefts from vehicles and vehicle thefts become a daily occurrence? Is the community prepared for an increase in burglaries or physical assaults? 

What about more public intoxication? Or beer runs from the local merchants? I have seen this deterioration in communities during my 30 years in California law enforcement. Is a change to the Evanston lifestyle a fair price to pay for 100-150 new jobs?

I think there are still too many unasked questions concerning this project.

Mike Crichton

Evanston