Skokie Police Engagement Commission Vote Delayed For More Review

SKOKIE, IL — A scheduled vote on the creation of a new commission to provide input on police policies and practices was postponed to a future meeting of the village board, Skokie's village attorney announced.

The Skokie Village Board had been due to consider preliminary approval of an ordinance establishing the Skokie Police Engagement Commission at this week's board meeting.

The proposal for the new commission stems from a nine-month review by another village commission — the Public Safety Commission — to which Mayor George Van Dusen committed in the wake of local protests over the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

In July, village trustees accepted the commission's recommendation to create a "community review board" to examine statistics about the use of force by Skokie police and incidents that result in complaints or injuries. In August, village staff invited residents to apply through the end of the last month to serve on the volunteer board and 18 submitted applications.

On Monday, Corporation Counsel Michael Lorge said the item would be deferred to an unspecified date.

"After consultation with Trustees [Edie Sue] Sutker and [Alison] Pure-Slovin, who serve as liaisons to the village Public Safety Commission, the mayor, village manager and I concluded that it would be helpful to invoke members of the committee that drafted the Public Safety Commission's report prior to seeking community comment and board approval," Lorge said.

"We value the work of the committee," he added, "and its review of the draft ordinance is prudent and will assure that the ordinance as drafted aligns with the intent of its report."

According to the draft ordinance, the responsibility of the new commission would be to "create a process for community input regarding Police policy and practice for use of force issue by evaluation of the Skokie Police Department's use of force statistics and the findings from use of force incidents that resulted in complaints or injuries," and to "discuss Skokie Police Department policies concerning community engagement, including use of force and advise the Mayor of recommendations relating to the related policies and practices of the Skokie Police Department."

Citizen complaints about Skokie police that are not related to use of force incidents are not explicitly within the purview of the seven-member commission, which would hold meetings twice a year and provide reports to the mayor with recommendations or policy ideas about improving the department's use of force policy.

Related: Police Use Of Force Recommendations Accepted By Skokie Village Board

Five residents spoke about police during the portion of the meeting set aside for public comment.

Some of them referenced remarks by Pure-Solvin at the board's July 6 meeting, when she responded to concerns from residents regarding racial disparities in arrests by asking the police chief if it was "safe to say that most of the arrests that are done in Skokie are (a) initiated by someone calling 911 and (b) that we are arresting people who are not necessarily residents of Skokie but may be coming to Skokie to commit a crime."

Carrie Bradean said the trustee's comment was an example of an unfounded fear that leads to the over-policing of Black people, and the subsequent use of data resulting from that over-policing to imply increased criminality.

"That idea is very common and a very pervasive racist myth, that Black people are not from here, but are rather an outside threat to our safety," Bradean said. "I have heard countless stories from people of color of being followed and stopped by Skokie police and having white Skokie residents call the police on them for no reason other than their race."

Bradean said the draft ordinance "reflects a pattern of denial" of the village's problem of systemic racism. She urged the board to amend it so that the commission meets more often and has a greater focus on accountability, transparency and equity.

Matt Temkin said it was high time to have uncomfortable and necessary conversations about racism in the village.

"Throughout the five years I have lived in Skokie, I've continued to be dismayed at the lack of acknowledgement, downright denial and the incredible pushback against the very real anti-Blackness within the village's borders," Temkin said.

"We have real data that is undeniable, but we have trustees repeating tropes of criminal behavior from outsiders and we often only pay lip service to equity," he added. "Throughout my conversations with current, former and future Black residents of Skokie, the commonality is that Skokie is not welcoming, that they are over-polices and over-surveilled, and often treated as outsiders."

Although the ordinance that would have established the Skokie Police Engagement Commission was placed on the agenda, it was removed without a vote on an amended agenda, a motion to table the item or any other kind of motion.

Patch has sought to determine the authority by which it was removed from the agenda. The village board is governed by the rules in the Skokie Village Code and Robert's Rules of Order, neither of which provide for the corporation counsel to remove items from the agenda without a vote.

Lorge, the village attorney, did not respond to questions or an interview request, but a village spokesperson provided a statement about the manner by which the item was removed from the agenda that raises questions about whether village officials believe documents posted on the village website that are labeled as "agenda" are, technically, agenda, as defined under the Illinois Open Meetings Act and Robert's Rules.

The statement reads, in part:

The Village publishes a report listing matters that Departments desire to be placed on the agenda for consideration by the Village Board at a Village Board meeting. The purpose of the report is to both inform the public of action that may be taken by the Village Board and to provide members of the Village Board with information to prepare for considering Department matters. Until an item is presented at a Village Board meeting, it is not actionable. There is nothing contained in the Village Code or Municipal Code that requires a matter included in a report or agenda to be taken up by the Village Board.

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