Bill Logan was an Evanston native who capped his long career with the Evanston Police Department by serving as its chief for three years, becoming the department’s first Black police chief.
Colleagues and family members recalled Logan, who later oversaw security at Evanston Township High School, as a pioneer in local law enforcement.
“He did a lot of work dismantling a lot of gangs in Evanston, and even back then, instead of just arresting offenders, he was meeting with gangs and asking them what they needed and if they were interested in going back to school,” said his son, Gilo Kwesi Logan. “He was really dealing with people, as opposed to just the mechanics of the police department. And he was really adamant about humanizing the department, including dealing with victims, and at that time it was unheard of for police departments to focus on (crime) victims. It was just arrest people and that was that.”
Logan, 92, died of natural causes on July 21 at his home in Evanston, his son said. He had been in declining health, his son said.
William Harold Logan Jr. was born in Evanston to parents who had moved to Evanston from Greenwood, SC and Muscatine, LA. in the early 1900s. Logan grew up in Evanston’s 5th Ward where he attended Foster School and Haven School and served as class president and president of the Glee Club.
Logan attended Evanston Township High School where he played football, basketball and baseball. He cemented his legacy there as the captain of the boys basketball team and the first Black captain of the football team before his graduation in 1951.
After high school, Logan earned a football scholarship to Western Illinois University. After a year and a half at Western Illinois, Logan left to serve in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, and during his four years of active duty, he was a staff sergeant and communications specialist with a top-secret military clearance in Japan and Korea.
Logan returned to Evanston in 1957 and applied to the Evanston Police Department. The department became his home for the next 30 years. Starting out as a patrolman, Logan worked his way up and the department chose him to protect Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on two occasions when the civil rights icon visited Evanston in the 1960s.
Logan later returned to school in the evenings, earning a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Northeastern Illinois University in 1976.
While on the force, Logan served as a motorcycle policeman, a lieutenant, a captain, deputy chief and finally chief of police. He also held second jobs during his career including watching parked cars in the parking lot of Fanny’s Restaurant and working security at the Evanston Public Library.
Logan also co-owned the B&J Grocery Store and Meat Market at the corner of Church Street and Dodge Avenue in Evanston.
Logan was promoted to become Evanston’s police chief in 1984. During his three years as chief, Logan started an Officer Friendly program and negotiated with Northwestern University to help give their security department full police power so they could develop their own police department.
“It was really (a) service to his community,” Logan’s son said. “He came from the community and he really enjoyed humanizing law enforcement and he enjoyed humanizing the community to law enforcement. I think that was part of his legacy – the bridge he built -just connecting humanity with humanity as opposed to police or criminals or however you want to frame it.”
In an online biography, Logan’s family characterized Logan as a “restorative practitioner before the term ‘restorative justice’ existed.”
Evanston’s current Police Chief and Evanston native Schenita Stewart praised Logan for his long service to the city.
“I have a great and unique appreciation for the lifetime of service Chief Logan provided to our community,” Stewart said. “His legacy as chief of police, head of ETHS security and a wise community elder has paved the way for future leadership opportunities for Evanstonian leaders such as myself. His strength and unwavering dedication left an indelible mark on the Evanston Police Department, making it a better organization.”
After retiring from the Evanston Police Department in 1987, Logan took a job at Evanston Township High School where he served as director of safety. He was the first in what now has become a line of former Evanston police chiefs to serve as the high school’s director of safety. During his 19 years there, Logan implemented video cameras, certified safety staff in CPR and first aid and defibrillator use, and he added crossing guards and a motor patrol for safety staff.
“Our goal must be to ensure a proper atmosphere at school that will enable the teachers to teach and the students to learn,” Logan told the Tribune’s Robert Enstad in 1987 upon taking the job at ETHS.
Logan also worked as a consultant to municipalities across the country to help them to select law enforcement administrators. After retiring from ETHS in 2006, Logan continued consulting and enjoyed attending Chicago Bears games as a season ticket holder. In his retirement, Logan held barbecues in his back yard, worked out five days a week and spent time with his children and grandchildren, his son said.
Logan’s service outside of work included co-founding the Chessmen Club of the North Shore in 1958. Also, in 1968, he co-founded the Fellowship of African American Men youth basketball program and served as a basketball coach for the program.
A portion of McDaniel Avenue in Evanston between Nathaniel Place and Greenleaf Street has been given the honorary street name “William Bill Logan Jr. Way.”
Logan’s wife of 52 years, Marcia “Sissy” Logan, died in 2010. In addition to his son, Logan is survived by another son, Billy III; a daughter, Sheryl; and three grandsons.
A visitation will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17 at Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Avenue, Evanston. A funeral service will follow at 10:30 a.m.
Bob Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
