The City of Evanston Friday afternoon announced three finalists to become the city’s next police chief.
They are Migdalia Bulnes, deputy chief of police in the Chicago Police Department; Joshua Hunt, chief of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Investigations Bureau, and Schenita Stewart, deputy chief of police in the Village of East Dundee.
The city has scheduled a virtual candidate forum for 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 8. Questions can be submitted in advance online. A feedback form will be available on the city website for resident comments after the forum.
City Manager Luke Stowe says he’ll hold one-on-one interviews with the candidates after the forum and “extend an offer for appointment to the person who best fits the leadership needs of the community.”
Bulnes, 53, has been on the Chicago police force since 1998. She was the subject of a video profile by the police department in 2020 for National Hispanic Heritage Month, in which she says she was born and raised in Humboldt Park and in Logan Square, where her father operated an auto parts store.
The Better Government Association says she earned a base salary of $148,138 in 2019. OpenGovUS says her salary increased to $178,620 in 2021.
Hunt became head of the investigations bureau in June after joining the state’s attorney’s office as a commander in the bureau in 2018. He earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Georgia Southern University in 2001.
The BGA says Hunt had a base salary in 2019 of $102,373.
Stewart joined the East Dundee force as deputy chief in January 2021. She had previously served as deputy chief in Lincolnwood, where the BGA says she had a base salary of $116,898 in 2019.
The BGA says Lincolnwood has 47 police employees while East Dundee has 14.
Stewart has a master’s degree in criminal justice from Chicago State University.
The police chief job in Evanston has been filled on an interim basis for the past several months by retired Chief Richard Eddington.