Investigation of police-involved shooting

As a longtime resident of Mundelein, I share the deep sadness over the death of Mary Alice Love. A family’s call for help during a mental health crisis ending in tragedy is a heartbreaking outcome that no one wanted.

At the same time, the Lake County state’s attorney’s office conducted an independent review of the full investigative record, including the body-worn camera video. That video shows Love, who had expressed a desire for officers to kill her, opening a sliding-glass door and approaching while holding large knives. Prosecutors determined they could not prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt and declined to file charges. That decision followed the rule of law and the evidence.

Our police officers are called into the most difficult, unpredictable situations often with incomplete information and in real time. Supporting them does not mean we stop examining policies, training or crisis-response practices. It does mean we reject attempts to substitute pressure, disruption or demands for immediate termination for the established processes of investigation, administrative review and, if necessary, civil litigation.

Shutting down a Village Board meeting and preventing the people’s business from being conducted is not accountability. It is a disruption. Peaceful protest is a protected right; preventing elected officials and residents from conducting public business is not. Mundelein deserves better than chaos as a substitute for process.

I support our Police Department as it completes its administrative review consistent with policy and training. I support the state’s attorney’s independent judgment based on the evidence. And I support every family that is grieving.

The way forward is through the institutions and procedures we have built for exactly these painful situations, not by tearing them down.

Tim Wilson, Mundelein