Glencoe Leaders Take 'Welcoming Community' Pledge

GLENCOE, IL — The Village of Glencoe endorsed the "Welcoming and Inclusive Community Pledge" at a board meeting last week, and the city's top public safety officer promised it will not enforce federal immigration laws.

At a meeting last Thursday, Glencoe Trustees also encouraged residents to sign the pledge online or in person at Village Hall, where it has been displayed on an easel. It calls for Glencoe to be a place that "respects our differences and believes that diverse perspectives create better outcomes."

"I believe that Glencoe should take up this pledge as a community, and hope that by doing so, we serve as an example to other communities in Cook County and elsewhere," said Village President Lawrence Levin. "I urge my fellow elected officials – and indeed all in Glencoe – to sign it."

In his statement, Glencoe Public Safety Director Cary Lewandowski said officers would not act as agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and immigration status would not have any bearing on the actions of his officers.

Read Lewandowski's complete statement below:

The Public Safety Department provides critical public safety services to everyone in the Glencoe community regardless of race, ethnicity, color, immigration or refugee status, religion or creed, gender or sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability, veteran status or other social identities.

The Department’s Mission Statement “To provide the highest level of public safety services to everyone, in cooperation with the community in a partnership of equality and integrity, in a spirit of unity and mutual trust” was created many years ago and has guided our officers’ efforts in carrying out their duties to the community each and every day. The mission statement reflects our officers’ commitment to providing exemplary, fair and impartial public safety services to all those who require our assistance. In fact, no discriminatory factors of any kind are tolerated as Glencoe officers provide public safety services to our community. The recent effort of the Village Board in approving and endorsing the Welcoming and Inclusive Community Pledge reflects our department’s desire to protect all those who live in, work in, worship in or visit the Village of Glencoe.

In recent months across the United States, there seems to be growing confusion about the role of local police in the enforcement of federal immigration laws. Unfortunately, this confusion may result in hesitation to contact police to report crimes or to request assistance out of fear that local police officers might be working to support the efforts of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - the federal agency responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws.

I want to reassure the community that Glencoe Public Safety Officers do not act as agents of ICE. Glencoe Public Safety Officers have no authority to enforce federal laws, including immigration laws.

With this in mind, it is important to understand our processes and how our officers might become aware of immigration law violations. When making initial contact with civilians on traffic stops or other calls for service, Glencoe officers do not inquire as to their immigration status. Immigration status has no bearing on Glencoe officers’ actions, nor the outcome of the interaction. However, we are required to verify the individuals’ identity through law enforcement databases. These databases do not provide immigration status information, but they may make officers aware of any federal arrest warrants related to immigration law violations. If no active warrants are discovered, our officers have no means to determine immigration status, nor would we take any additional measures to determine immigration status.

Glencoe Public Safety is committed to providing emergency services to everyone in our community - please do not be afraid to call for service. Glencoe Public Safety officers do not enforce immigration laws and our officers do not request immigration status information from the people we interact with on a daily basis.

Sincerely,

Cary Lewandowski
Public Safety Director
Village of Glencoe

Read complete memorandum from Lawrence Levin, Glencoe Village President, to Village Board of Trustees, Village Staff and all Glencoe Residents.

Over the past several weeks, our neighboring communities in Lake County have been focused on ways to make clear statements to their constituencies about their willingness to be welcoming and inclusive of the many different individuals who live, work, or worship in their communities. Taking their lead, and considering my belief that a similar stance here in Glencoe is not only appropriate but necessary, this week, I communicated with several individuals and groups – the leadership of the Northwest Municipal Conference, leaders of our neighboring communities, leaders of our sister governments here in Glencoe and Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin on the importance of standing together and outlining our desire to articulate our support of all of those in our community.

Attached to this Resolution is a copy of the Welcoming and Inclusive Community Pledge that was championed by Lake County and those municipalities in Lake County. This pledge makes a clear statement that a community must together stand up against any and all discrimination, harassment or hateful acts that are based on race, ethnicity, color, immigration or refugee status, religion or creed, gender or sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability, veteran status, or other social identities, as well as discourse that disrespects or degrades people's identities, needs, and beliefs. I believe that Glencoe should take up this pledge as a community, and hope that by doing so, we serve as an example to other communities in Cook County and elsewhere. I urge my fellow elected officials – and indeed all in Glencoe – to sign it.

I look forward to our community embracing this pledge, and have enlisted the support of the Glencoe Community Relations Forum and our Department of Public Safety in championing this effort here in Glencoe. I look forward to discussing this important community initiative with the Village Board and our community at our meeting on March 16, 2017.

Memorandum from Lawrence R. Levin, Glencoe Village President

Top photo: Patch file.