Most Elgin council members back lowering education requirement to take police exam

Most Elgin City Council members support lowering the education requirements needed for people to take the entry-level hiring exam for the city police department.

The move is an effort to increase diversity within the department, but some local social activists believe it's the wrong answer to improving public safety in the city.

The Elgin Police Department, like many across the country, is seeing a flood of officer retirements. Chief Ana Lalley wants to take that opportunity to have the department's demographics better reflect those of the city as a whole. She also believes people who can't afford to go to college or who chose military service over getting a degree should not be excluded from the city's police force.

Current minimum requirements just to sit for the entrance exam involve having at least 60 college credits. A pending change, which city council members debated for the second time Wednesday night, would allow people with a high school diploma or GED to take the test.

A gauntlet of interviews, background checks, psychological exams and physical tests are still required to make the final hiring list even after the initial exam. Of the more than 300 people who apply to work for the Elgin Police Department at each exam, only about 33 make it through all the final qualifications.

Lalley believes changing the initial test requirements will expand and diversify the number of initial applicants.

"The Elgin Police Department does more training than is required by the state," she told the council. "If we choose to keep the requirements how they are, I'm perfectly fine with that. We were trying to find a way to be more inclusive."

At least six council members - Toby Shaw, Rose Martinez, Steve Thoren, Carol Rauschenberger and Mayor David Kaptain - voiced support for the policy change. That's more than enough potential votes for approval.

But the city council's two Black members, Tish Powell and Corey Dixon, expressed concerns.

Powell suggested waiting on any changes until the city's new community task force on policing begins its work in September. But Lalley said the police force is in danger of becoming short-staffed if new hires are postponed.

Dixon said that of the 39 officers who have been hired and who remain on the force since Lalley was named chief, 13 are female and 22 are Hispanic or Black. That represents greater diversity than the department saw before Lalley.

"I would point out that's all under the current requirements of education," he said. "I would err on the side of caution and just hold to our current system for now. We do need to include community members and hear those concerns before we implement changes that affect certain communities more than others."

Council members have been hearing feedback from members of Elgin in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The group submitted a letter citing several academic studies indicating police officers with higher education tend to see fewer misconduct accusations and use physical and verbal force less frequently.

Though that view isn't universally shared by local activists, Elgin in Solidarity wants better public safety that doesn't involve using or expanding the police department. They believe quick response teams of mental health professionals, addiction counselors and social workers can better address most of the department's calls for service.

Brandon Gonzalez, of Elgin in Solidarity, told the council Minneapolis police went through de-escalation and anti-bias training, but it didn't stop a police officer from murdering George Floyd.

"If it had any impact, it was not enough," Gonzalez said. "Social problems should be addressed by social workers. Defund now. Clean the house, and start building a new culture."

The city council is set to take an official vote on the testing policy change at its next meeting in two weeks.