Batavia PD Hopes Shared Principles Will Build Trust With Communities Of Color

BATAVIA, IL — The Batavia Police Department adopted a set of 10 shared principles Monday in an effort to build trust between law enforcement and communities of color.

Batavia City Council approved the resolution containing the principles at Monday's meeting. The agreement is one between the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The principles were determined by the two organizations that met in 2017 to discuss common concerns, Batavia Police Chief Shawn Mazza said at the meeting.

"These principles are about showing love and compassion to people, and that’s what our mission is," he said.

The chief continued: "I don’t want these to be just words on paper. This needs to be rooted in the culture of our organization, and operationalizing the principles means familiarizing all of our officers with what these principles are."

Mazza said many of the principles are already ingrained in the police department's culture and hiring process. But several initiatives will still be implemented to connect police officers with the community to "show the human side of law enforcement," officials said.

Some strategies will include police attending special events, getting involved in charitable events such as Special Olympics fundraisers, and hosting presentations through community partnerships. The department plans to continue making training sessions on topics including deescalation, crisis prevention and use of force a "high priority."

Batavia police will also "soon begin" participating in a national peer support program that will give officers the opportunity to assist others in maintaining their physical and mental health.

"I am pleased to see this," Alderman Tony Malay said at the meeting. "It speaks volumes about the police department and staff of the police department."

Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke echoed Malay's sentiments by saying it "speaks wonders on how good our police department is and how sensitive they are to the community of Batavia."

Here's a look at police department's 10 shared principles:

• We value the life of every person and consider life to be the highest value.
• All persons should be treated with dignity and respect. This is another foundational value.
• We reject discrimination toward any person that is based on race, ethnicity, religion, color, nationality, immigrant status, sexual orientation, gender, disability, or familial status.
• We endorse the six pillars in the report of the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing. The first pillar is to build and rebuild trust through procedural justice, transparency, accountability, and honest recognition of past and present obstacles.
• We endorse the four pillars of procedural justice, which are fairness, voice (i.e., an opportunity for citizens and police to believe they are heard), transparency, and impartiality.
• We endorse the values inherent in community policing, which includes community partnerships involving law enforcement, engagement of police officers with residents outside of interaction specific to enforcement of laws, and problem-solving that is collaborative, not one-sided.
• We believe that developing strong ongoing relationships between law enforcement and communities of color at the leadership level and street level will be the keys to diminishing and eliminating racial tension.
• We believe that law enforcement and community leaders have a mutual responsibility to encourage all citizens to gain a better understanding and knowledge of the law to assist them in their interactions with law enforcement officers.
• We support diversity in police departments and in the law enforcement profession. Law enforcement and communities have a mutual responsibility and should work together to make a concerted effort to recruit diverse police departments.
• We believe de-escalation training should be required to ensure the safety of community members and officers. We endorse using de-escalation tactics to reduce the potential for confrontations that endanger law enforcement officers and community members; and the principle that human life should be taken only as a last resort.