When Oak Park voters receive their ballots for the April 6 election, they will be asked to weigh in on a topic that has polarized the community in recent months.
Voters will be asked to simply answer “yes” or “no” to the question, “Shall the Village of Oak Park defund its Police Department?” The question was placed on the ballot following a highly contentious village board meeting in January.
The referendum question is non-binding, though those for and against reducing the police department’s budget agree the issue is more complicated than a simple question can answer.
Crime increased in Oak Park in 2020
In its recently-released 2020 report on crime, the Oak Park police department said it saw a nearly 10% increase in the village’s crime rate from 2019.
The village had 67 aggravated battery incidents in 2020, and 10 cases of aggravated battery with a firearm. Both are increases over the 49 battery/assault cases and 3 aggravated battery with a firearm cases reported in 2019. Oak Park also had two homicides last year.
While those statistics reflect serious crimes, officials attributed much of the increase to more than 360 reports of identity theft related to false unemployment claims.
While discussing the report March 8, some village board members began questioning chief LaDon Reynolds about how a reduced number of staff would affect response time and crime rates.
Reynolds said he gathers with his leadership team annually to look at the department’s needs, supervisory levels and “all things that go into policing the community” before submitting a budget request.
“I think it’s important to make sure we have the appropriate staff to meet the needs of the community,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said “a majority” of those who offend in Oak Park are not from Oak Park.
Defund supporters want additional social services
Cynthia Brito, who has been active with community organizations Freedom to Thrive and the Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League, said the matter of reimagining police budgeting is nothing new, but has recently gained mainstream attention following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
“Because I work with young people between 14 and 18, most are now in high school, and one of the things that kept coming up in a lot of our meetings is their interactions with the police, their interactions with the court system in Oak Park and their interactions being criminalized,” Brito said.
Last year, community members were invited to publicly share their experiences, both positive and negative, with Oak Park police officers. One resident said police were called on his son while he attempted to earn money raking leaves while another woman said she was upset at the lack of a response to a sexual assault allegation. Others praised the department’s resident beat officer program, while one resident called police “polite and concerned” following a response to a burglary. Village officials say the dialogue will be used to further the discussion on the future of its police department structure and policies.
Brito, who is also a third-year PhD student at UIC, said “defunding” would call for money from the police budget being reallocated to additional services, which may include a non-police response team and additional social services for the community.
“I think what is glaringly clear is we are underfunding resources and economic opportunities that make communities safe,” Brito said. “This movement is all about flipping the script a little bit around safety and looking at what communities need to be safe. In order to reduce crime, people need what they need to thrive: food, jobs, clean water access, parks, greenspace, etc.”
Oak Park police partner with counseling center
Resident Monica Sheehan, however, says Oak Park has an “exemplary” police department, citing its response time of about three minutes for high-priority calls and responding to an average of 60,000 calls annually as reasons the number of sworn officers should remain the same. Oak Park has about 120 sworn police officers.
“Oak Park’s officers are trained in de-escalation techniques, which is likely one reason why no officer has even discharged a weapon on duty in the last decade,” Sheehan said. “The force already partners with Thrive Counseling Center to assist with calls that require a mental health professional, and officers receive training from the National Alliance on Mental Illness.”
Sheehan says several factors contribute to the need for Oak Park’s police staffing levels, including sharing a border with Chicago and having several mass transit options.
“There is no data that supports defunding the police department and the process is already underway to hire a consultant to conduct an objective, third-party analysis of the department,” Sheehan said. “The findings of this independent report should drive any changes to Oak Park’s police force and its practices.”
Brito said the system of policing is what needs change, saying “punitive policies, expulsions and police-style tactics” have slowly crept into schools and other institutions.
Brito said police resources have been reduced in several communities around the country, including Austin, Texas and Denver, while Eugene, Ore., runs a program called Cahoots, or Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Street, which uses social workers to respond to some calls for help in the community.
Police removed from schools
Local activists secured a win last year when Oak Park and River Forest High School voted to remove school resource officers from its buildings. Oak Park District 97 also removed the officers from its two middle school buildings.
At several meetings last year, some community members argued that having an armed police officer inside a school building could be traumatizing to some students, while supporters said it allowed students to build relationships with law enforcement officers.
Trustee candidates weigh in
The defunding police question is also on the Oak Park ballot in a way that is not reflected in the referendum question.
Some Oak Park village trustee candidates said they would favor a review of policing and likely changes to the policing model, while others say they are not in favor of cutting funding for police officers. Results of the April 6 election could ultimately dictate the future funding of the department, its staffing levels and whether funds are reallocated to social service organizations and non-police response in Oak Park.
Twitter: @steveschering