“He was a man of humility, grace, empathy and strength and courage,” Elliott said. “The community always came first and he always made sure that the agency understood that, the officers that served this community understood that.”
The station honors the chief’s legacy, Elliott said. He served 34 years with the division, including a decade as chief.
“It was no question that this would be important for us and meaningful for us to honor that legacy that he left behind here, not only at the Springfield Police Division but within this entire community,” Elliott said. “He continued to serve all the way up until the very end, even well past his years of retirement from the Springfield Police Division.”
Evans became chief in September 1987 and served until his retirement in December 1997.
Evans graduated from Springfield High School, served three years in the U.S. Army, and attended several schools for law enforcement.
He was appointed to the Springfield Police Division as a probationary patrolman in October 1963 and was named a plainclothesman three years later. In February 1970, he was named to the then-newly created Narcotics Bureau. He was promoted to sergeant in February 1972.
In June 1973, he graduated from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Academy, after spending 12 weeks at the session. He was the third officer in the history of the police division to attend the training.
In 1975, he was named “Policeman of the Year” by the Exchange Club, and in October of that year, he was promoted to lieutenant and assigned to uniform patrol.
In June 1983, Evans was the high scorer on the police captain’s examination, during the time he was serving as administrative aide to the executive commander captain. He was promoted to captain the same month.
Community Response Team Officer Zach Massie said the substation provides a working space for officers where they can be visible to the community.
The substation hosts the annual Operation Thanksgiving and Operation Santa events. It will relaunch its summer food program with the Springfield City School District to provide a free hot lunch for school-aged kids every day from June 2 through Aug. 1 at 1 p.m.
“Having our substation here within our community, it’s about being accessible, being open, transparent and providing a place for people to feel seen and heard and safe, and meeting people where they are,” Elliott said. “That’s what this substation does. It allows us to have another satellite office but understanding the importance of community engagement.”
Staff photographer Joseph Cooke contributed to this report.
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