Gurnee wants to hear from residents on police and race relations

Gurnee Police Chief Kevin Woodside and other village officials are all ears concerning the issue of law enforcement and race relations in the community.

Woodside, Trustee Greg Garner and Mayor Kristina Kovarik are in the middle of what's called the Gurnee Listening Tour. They'll host the second of three casual sessions at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, at Gurnee Community Church, 4555 Old Grand Ave.

Woodside said the officials will provide feedback when necessary, but the idea is more about hearing from community members. There are no formal agendas or presentations.

"It's a very aptly named listening event," Woodside said. "My desire from this is just to listen and not do much speaking at all."

In particular, village officials want to hear if residents perceive a conflict between police and the community. Those who attend also will be encouraged to describe how they are treated by police and if they have concerns about Gurnee officers.

Garner said police clashes with civilians across the country are a reason the Gurnee community discussion is needed. He said he began pursuing the idea after five Dallas police officers were killed during a protest in July.

"We just wanted to be proactive," Garner said. "One of the things we decided to do is (ask), 'Do we really know what our community has to say about it?' As a result, we decided to listen. Listen to understand versus listening to reply."

Garner said while the village has not had any police-involved shootings to raise tensions, perceptions of racial profiling and wrongful traffic stops surfaced at the first session, held last month at House of Prayer Church in Gurnee. He said residents and others don't necessarily complain to village leaders if they believe they were mistreated.

"If they don't (contact) the leadership, the leadership has no way of knowing whether they're doing something right or doing something wrong," Garner said. "We found out some things we didn't know and, as a result, we want to try to address those things."

Woodside said officials will discuss their next steps after the Gurnee Listening Tour is completed. Another session is expected in November.

"If you come to an event and you spend two hours there talking and everybody that represents the village ... doesn't say anything or respond in any way, it can be pretty unsatisfying," he said. "A great question is, 'What is next?' And I think that is one of the things we're hoping to learn."