Misconduct, training and money comprise top issues for Elgin police reform
Forming a civilian review board to handle accusations of Elgin police misconduct remains the top priority for city residents looking to improve relations between the community and local enforcement.
But the 18-member task force established a slew of other priorities at its most recent meeting that the group also believes must be addressed for true reform to occur.
Next in the line of priorities after the civilian review board is assessing police training, recruitment, hiring and retention. The department is seeing a wave of officer retirements over the past few years.
Officers with long histories in the community, some with histories viewed more positively than others, are being replaced in a push to hire recruits and bring the department back up to a full contingent of 184 officers. The city council also recently removed a requirement for candidates to have a bachelor's degree or 60 college credit hours in addition to other advanced qualifications to sit for the entrance exam to become an officer.
Third in the line of priorities is a closer look at the police department's budget. Some members of the task force believe the department is much larger and more costly than it should be because police are serving in roles that could be filled by social workers, school counselors and addiction experts.
The task force will break into subcommittees to address each of those topics. Those subcommittees will report back to the full task force, which will form recommendations for change to bring to the city council.
Once those subcommittees complete their work, another tier of priorities will be investigated. In order of priority, those topics are:
• Police presence (are police patrolling where they should be or should not be)
• Racial profiling and other disparities
• Police culture and climate (protecting "bad" officers or covering up poor police work)
• Atonement and accountability for what task force members said is a legacy of "egregious offenses" committed by Elgin police officers in the committee.
The task force will meet again on Dec. 16.