What Elgin police plan for 2019: Addressing mental health, tools to restrict suspects

The Elgin Police Department has lots of plans for next year, including creating a "collaborative crisis services unit" to respond to mental health-related calls, taking part in an initiative by the Center for Policing Equity, and possibly incorporating techniques used by other agencies.

The new unit will have two full-time officers and three part-time social workers and is expected to be in place within the next couple of months, Police Chief Ana Lalley said Wednesday.

Suicide calls have increased from 322 in 2014 to 356 in 2015, 378 in 2016, 398 in 2017 and 493 in 2018 as of last week, Lalley said. About 76 percent of officers are trained in crisis intervention; the goal is to have everyone, including civilian staff members, trained by June, she said.

Lalley said the department is testing two new pieces of equipment: a "Y bar," a Y-shaped tool that can be used to pin and keep people at bay, and a "BolaWrap," which launches a Kevlar tether that wraps around people to restrict their movements.

If those tools are deemed useful, the department will put in place policies and procedures before deploying them on the streets, Lalley said.

The Y bar was among techniques that Elgin police learned about during a visit in November to the New York City Police Department. Elgin also is looking into implementing its own version of New York City's 24-hour emergency services unit that would provide fast, small-scale SWAT response, Lalley said.

Elgin had its first fatal police shooting in 19 years in March, when a resident armed with a knife was shot and killed by an officer. The shooting is being reviewed by the Cook County state's attorney's office.

A contingent from Elgin also visited police agencies in Scotland and London in August. Lalley and other officers discussed the trip during last week's meeting of the city council, when Councilwoman Tish Powell asked if those agencies use different de-escalation techniques.

"Their de-escalation techniques are extremely similar to us," Cmdr. Colin Fleury said. "They deal with the same problems, but they don't deal with people with guns as often. We have been giving our officers a lot of training in slowing things down, and they weren't too far off."

Lalley also said she hopes to finalize within the next couple of months a partnership with the nonprofit Center for Policing Equity to participate in their National Justice Database initiative. The Center's website describes it as "the nation's first database tracking national statistics on police behavior, including stops and use of force" with standardized data collection.

Councilman Corey Dixon praised Lalley's initiative. "I truly believe you do care for this community and you want the best for it."

The trips to New York City, Scotland and London cost a total $18,361 in airfare and lodging, with $14,504 from police drug asset forfeiture funds, which is not taxpayer money, city officials said. The expense for meals and ground transportation was not available Wednesday.

"It was well worth the money spent," Mayor David Kaptain said.

The officers who went on the trips had different ranks and perspectives, and they continually asked questions and challenged answers, said Assistant City Manager Laura Valdez, who accompanied them.

"My biggest take-away was the mindset to always do better that is really embedded in the police department," Valdez said.