Elgin council gives police improvement task force more time to complete work

An Elgin task force, created to improve the relationship between police and the city's minority residents, spent months "wandering in the desert" but received more time to bring an oasis of benefits back to the city.

The 18-member task force began its work last September under the guidance of an outside company hired for $160,000 to facilitate the group's progress. But after 40 meetings, the group has not presented any recommendations to the city council.

Several of the early meetings of the task force featured the airing of personal grievances some task force members have with the police department dating back many years. Other meetings fixated on police activities already debated and resolved by the city council before the task force's creation, such as the presence of police officers in local schools.

Some of the slow progress stemmed from the sheer size of the task force and getting everyone to work together on common goals.

As a result, the facilitation company, Kearns & West, exhausted its $160,000 budget at the end of March. Two task force members resigned. And the remaining group was left with less than two months to hit the initial goal of wrapping up its work by June 1.

Despite productive meetings in April, it was clear the task force would not meet that goal.

This week, task force members asked the city council for $95,000 and three more months to wrap up their work. The council was not quick to hand over the money.

"I'm pretty disappointed in the progress," said Mayor David Kaptain. "I've heard a number of people say this group wandered in the desert for a couple, three months before they got started. What guarantee do I have that that will not happen again?"

A representative from Kearns and West said the progress should be swift now that the task force has narrowed its focus, sorted through teamwork issues and developed a detailed work plan for the remaining meetings.

But council member Steve Thoren said the task force's work has unfairly soiled the police department's reputation.

"There's a lot of people that would see a task force assigned to a situation where there is a problem," Thoren said. "Our police force is second to none. I value the police. It's not an organization that needs changes. I haven't seen anything from the task force showing value."

Task force leader LeJewel Crigler agreed the early efforts of her group were "kind of crazy to say the least." But she told Thoren his positive views of the department are not universally shared by the Black and other minority members of the city. And that's why the task force should be allowed to continue its work.

"We stay as far away from (the police) as possible because, to us, sometimes it feels as if it's a threat," Crigler said. "We are trying to change all of that."

The council voted 7-2, with members Thoren and Rose Martinez as the "no" votes, to let the task force continue working with an additional $95,000. The task force now will have 16 members.

Kaptain requested a progress report within the next 60 days. There was general agreement that Sept. 1 will be a hard deadline for the end of the group's work.

Council member Corey Dixon said he expects the task force's recommendations will be a cost savings to the city in the future through greater understanding and appreciation between the city's police and minority residents.

"Don't be foolish in believing or drinking the Kool-Aid that because someone has something critical to say about policing that you then hate police or you hate the Elgin Police Department," Dixon said. "That's a fool's trap. Nobody here hates the police. What the task force is saying is we realize there are some issues, and we want to figure out a way to make our community better."