Elgin looks to 18 civilians to create a better relationship between police and minority residents
Elgin has a new community task force charged with developing recommendations on how to make the city's police department a more effective and trusted part of the city - particularly for Black and Hispanic residents.
The city council voted to approve the membership of the task force Wednesday night. Once it begins its work in coming months, the task force will discuss and debate topics including, but not limited to:
• The development of a standing civilian police review board.
• Hiring standards to become an Elgin police officer, including exploring whether a college degree should be required or if a college degree is a hindrance to a diverse police force.
• Police officer accountability and discipline.
• Best management and training practices for police departments.
• Building and improving trust with the community.
The city council voted to have a task force as large as 18 members and as small as 13 members. City council members Tish Powell and Toby Shaw will also serve on the committee as nonvoting members.
Meetings of the task force will be open to the public, but specific dates and times have not yet been announced. It is expected that the committee will meet, select a chairman from its ranks, and then select a regular meeting time. The actual size of the committee will be determined after the 18 people the city council selected verify they will participate and can attend the meetings of the task force.
A total of 70 Elgin residents applied to be on the task force. The applicant pool was 20% Black and 25% Hispanic. Those were the top two demographics the city council wanted to see represented on the task force, as statistics show they have the most interaction with Elgin police. The average age of the applicants is 50. The oldest is 76. The youngest is 24.
Powell, Shaw, Police Chief Ana Lalley and City Manager Rick Kozal reviewed the 70 applications with all names and personal identification removed so as not to bias their selection in favor of people they knew. They came up with a list of 25 finalists.
The city council approved 18 possible members. Of that pool of 18, about half are Black and about one-third are Hispanic.
The task force is expected to complete its work by June 2022. Any recommendations it develops will then be reviewed by the city council for possible implementation.
City council member Corey Dixon said he's expecting big ideas and a committed effort by the task force to come up with suggestions to improve policing in the city.
"This is some serious business," Dixon said. "We've been protesting, and we've been upset for a long time. Now it's time to get to work. We fully expect for you to show up and put in the effort."
The task force members are: Karen Arreola, Carroll Bailey, Marcus Banner, Corey Battles, Sherman Blair Jr., Walter Blalark, Shimon Blanchard, Marcus Bradley, Joshua Brockway, Tish Calhamer, Ismael Cordova, LeJewel K. Crigler, Aubree Flickema, Danise Habun, Charles Horton, Cynthia M. Rivera, Penelope Williams and Kevin Zalivar.