Like many communities across the country, Oak Park opted to take a deeper look at its policing policies after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis nearly two years ago. This week, village officials hope community members will start voicing their thoughts as a comprehensive study, approved last summer, begins.
In public meetings starting today, community members can offer suggestions on how the Oak Park Police Department can deliver its services more equitably.
The meetings are part of a community safety assessment commissioned by the Village Board. It hired the national consulting firm of BerryDunn to oversee the study and produce a report that’s expected this summer. The goal of the study, according to the village, is to determine “how effectively and equitably the Oak Park Police Department delivers services to all members of the community, specifically to people of color.”
“No community in the country is immune to the challenges of policing,” said Village Board President Vicki Scaman, “We felt that having an independent organization was important to do this right.”
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Scaman emphasized that while the Oak Park Police Department has made great strides in improving its performance, particularly in dealing with mental health, this is an opportunity to find better methods to assist the community.
“I would say that we have been ahead of the curve in wanting to do right by the people we serve,” Scaman said, “But how can we close the gap to ensure that everyone is getting the services they need?”
Village Trustee Ravi Parakkat, who took office in 2021, views the safety assessment as a way to get a better understanding of a divisive issue in the community.
“It was a very contentious time,” he said, talking about the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder. “I felt like there were a lot of strong opinions, but too often, people were talking past each other. For a dialogue to be effective, it needs to be fact-based. I think this study is a way for us to get a factual basis that will help us in our deliberations.”
He agrees with Scaman that the police department has for the most part performed admirably under tough conditions. “But a part of this (study) is to examine everything and see what we can be doing better,” he said.
The first community meeting, focusing on police operations, will be held virtually (via Zoom) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 10. A second in-person meeting, highlighting the police call-for-service model, takes place in the North Café at Oak Park and River Forest High School from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 16. The final public meeting will be held virtually at 6 p.m. March 23. Find details at www.oak-park.us/policeassessment.
Also found on the website are opportunities to provide feedback and ask questions without attending a meeting. Community members are encouraged to share thoughts and take a survey.
“We aren’t going into this study with any preconceived notions,” Parakkat said. “This is how we can get the information we need to take the next steps.”
The public comments are just a part of the overall safety assessment study, which will examine multiple aspects of the Oak Park Police Department, including “overall operations, internal and external race equity, and the response-to-call service model that the department follows,” according to a village statement. The BerryDunn staff will research the department’s administrative functions and management approaches. It will also compare the department to other communities in an effort to find areas of improvement.
The comprehensive study, for which the board will pay BerryDunn $159,250, was approved by the Village Board by a 6-1 vote. The lone vote against it came from Village Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla, who at the time objected to the bidding process, which was initiated by the previous Village Board. She said she felt that the proposals before the board, including the eventual winning bid by BerryDunn, would not adequately address the concerns of Black and Brown members of the community.
Scaman believes that the study is the first — and necessary — step toward rethinking the role police play in Oak Park.
“We’ve already committed to some changes,” she said. “We have $350,000 in the budget toward an alternative 911 response. We know that’s not going to be enough, but it gets the ball rolling. We have higher expectations than just checking off a box that we did something.”