Van Dyke case sparks police conversation on race in Hoffman Estates
A Hoffman Estates event Thursday addressing police and race relations came as news broke that Jason Van Dyke - the white officer charged with murder in the fatal shooting of black teen Laquan McDonald - had been given a job by the Fraternal Order of Police.
Recent Interim Chicago Police Superintendent John Escalante, the keynote speaker, said he understands why people may be upset but that the decision was entirely the union's and didn't involve the department he led for most of the past four months.
Van Dyke has been on unpaid leave since he was charged, and union officials felt he needed financial support, according to news reports.
Escalante, who was succeeded by new interim Superintendent Eddie Johnson on Monday, said people upset by the union's job offer are free to express their displeasure, but that the police department's role is to ensure any and all such protests are peaceful.
The Rev. Clyde Brooks, president of the Illinois Commission on Diversity & Human Relations which organized Thursday's event, took a philosophical and nuanced attitude to the news.
"You know, I'm in the healing business," Brooks said. "(Van Dyke) has not been convicted yet, though the video speaks for itself. I think we have to pray for him and his family. If he's guilty, he'll face the music. I wish his family no ill will. His family shouldn't suffer for what he did ... or didn't do. I'm withholding final judgment until he's found guilty."
Nevertheless, Brooks believed the news was a timely reminder of the reason for the event he organized at the Marriott Chicago Northwest for police officials from Elgin, Lincolnwood, Niles, Des Plaines, Schaumburg, Itasca, South Barrington and Crystal Lake.
"This is a new day for law enforcement," Brooks said, adding that it's critical to to find ways to attract more people of color to the profession.
Escalante said that's something that was a concern in the wake of the protests that followed the release of the video last fall of McDonald being shot. One thing Chicago Police did differently was to use social media more to reach out to young people. Administrators were delighted that 4,000 African Americans took the exam this year - twice as many as when it was last offered in 2013, he said.
And officers already on the force have apparently taken the lesson of the video to heart, he said. Those in charge of crowd control at the daily protests that have occurred since the video's release have conducted themselves in a highly professional manner resulting in no further viral videos being generated.
He said the department is rolling out training sessions on de-escalating confrontational encounters and how better to interact with the mentally ill. He added that he laughed when he heard he had the nickname "De-Escalante" within the department.
Officers have to not think of themselves as warriors, but as guardians, Escalante said. "We're there to protect those who can't protect themselves."
South Barrington Village President Paula McCombie McCombie said the dialogue was valuable because the changing demographics of the suburbs means that the issues and solutions Chicago police have encountered will eventually be relevant to all.
The town's police chief, Thomas Roman, agreed that the basics of policing are moving in the same direction, but said it is the big cities that encounter new issues first.