Elgin chief has 2nd study on use of force
‘We needed more answers,’ Lalley says
Elgin police Chief Ana Lalley is defending her decision to have a second racial equity “use of force” study of the police department done after learning the results of the first and why neither report was given to the policing task force.
The two reports analyzing police calls in which force was threatened or used resulted in very different findings.
In the first, conducted by the Center for Police Equity at the Elgin City Council’s request, it was determined department officers used or threatened force more frequently when dealing with Black suspects than with those of other races. The second, done for the police department by Northern Illinois University’s Statistical Consulting Services, found the race of the suspects involved did not play a role when officers used or threatened force.
Lalley said she sought the second review because they needed a deeper analysis of when force was involved and why, which the first report did not provide.
“This is a simple thing of we needed more answers,” Lalley said Thursday. “It’s not a matter of who’s right or who’s wrong. No one is trying to disparage anyone’s work.”
Some members of the city’s Community Task Force on Policing criticized Lalley and city officials at Wednesday’s council meeting.
Task force member Danise Habun said the presentation of the two reports last week was a “debacle.”
Habun called City Manager Rick Kozal’s 30-minute “preamble” before the center provided its data analysis annoying, made worse by the disclosure that the initial findings were available in September 2021 but not provided to the task force, which started its work that same month.
The task force repeatedly asked for center’s report and was “rebuffed with a variety of excuses,” including being told it wasn’t done, “which I now know to be untrue,” she said.
The volunteer group also wasn’t informed that Elgin police had questioned the center’s methodology or sought a second review from Northern Illinois, Habun said.
The council was to review the task force’s recommendations for police department changes Wednesday, but the discussion was tabled at the request of Councilman Corey Dixon.
“There are obviously some things we still need to divulge and jump into when it comes to the data and information,” he said, adding that he’d like the Center for Police Equity to present their findings again.
“I believe that needs to happen,” he said. “We need to have that data in order to substantiate some of these proposed changes (from the task force).”
The vote to table the discussion was 6-3, with council members Rose Martinez, Toby Shaw and Steve Thoren voting against it. On Thursday, Lalley said the center’s report couldn’t be given to the task force in September 2021 because it was a rough draft. The final version wasn’t ready until this year, she said.
As the council moves forward with how to respond to the two reports and the task force’s recommendations, Lalley said, the police department will “continue our work to build meaningful relationships with our community. And I hope that through our demonstrated actions with our programs, initiatives and outreach, that this commitment is visible and at the heart of what we believe.”