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BERWYN – There is no evidence that Berwyn police officers practice racial profiling, a committee charged with examining the issue reported to the city council.
However, the city’s newly formed Diversity Committee made several recommendations designed to ensure that racial profiling and other forms of bias do not occur in the future.
The Diversity Committee outlined its recommendations during a Dec. 23 city council committee meeting.
“We do not feel there is sufficient evidence to determine there is a systemic racial profiling issue within the Berwyn Police Department,” said the Rev. Doris Green, a member of the Diversity Committee.
Allegations of racial profiling first surfaced in June, when a group of residents raised concerns that the practice might be occurring within the city’s police department. The group referenced data found in the Illinois Department of Transportation’s annual Pedestrian Traffic Stop Study.
The city followed up by establishing the Diversity Committee, which was tasked with examining the issue, among other things.
The panel met over the past five months to take a look at documents, policies and procedures, hear from subject matter experts, review the methodology of the IDOT’s Pedestrian Traffic Stop Study and invite testimony from those with personal accounts of racial profiling.
Andrea Munday, chairwoman of the committee, referenced a presentation highlighting reasons the IDOT Pedestrian Traffic Stop Study is to be discredited. She cited, among other things, problems with self-reporting by law enforcement agencies.
Although the committee did not find evidence of racial profiling, Green said the group’s recommendations are necessary.
“In reviewing the policies and practices of the city of Berwyn and the Berwyn Police Department, we have found that there are areas of possible improvement and feel the door may be left open to implicit bias and racial profiling,” Green said.
Among the recommendations are:
• Revise the city’s website to include a diversity statement.
• Consider hiring a director of communications.
• Update and post a bias-free policy to the police department’s website.
• Increase engagement between the community and police.
• Provide a demographic breakdown of the police department and diversify police department staffing.
• Add two members to the city’s police and fire commission.
“There is still a lot of room for improvement like the reverend said,” said Jesus “Jesse” Ramirez, a Diversity Committee member. “We did not find any evidence of racial profiling, but we don’t want that to ever occur.”
Alderwoman Jeanine Reardon said the recommendations are reasonable, but she believes more work is necessary to determine if racial profiling is a practice used by the city’s police department.
“In the gap between what we feel and what we can prove, I’m worried that the findings of your commission are not adequate to prove one way or the other,” Reardon said.
Munday and Mayor Robert Lovero agreed.
“I think it’s important for us to say that we didn’t find any evidence of a systemic problem, but it doesn’t mean nobody’s ever had a bad experience or been racially profiled in Berwyn,” Munday said.
“The recommendations, to me, are really sensible, very reasonable,” Lovero said. “If that helps bring forward a better magnitude of trying to control such a thing of happening, then we should definitely look at those and try to see where we can institute those.”
Alderwoman Alicia Ruiz said she doesn’t want to give too much credence to the Pedestrian Traffic Stop Study. She added that the commission believes there’s reason to believe the data could mean something, which is why it presented the recommendations.
“We want to base our report on facts, not on feelings, not on emotions, not on hearsay, not on what we think, but actual evidence that we received to be able to say this exists or doesn’t exist,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz referenced the study, saying the data doesn’t prove that racial profiling is a bigger problem in Berwyn than in other municipalities throughout the state.
“Unfortunately, it did not scream that we have an internal issue,” Ruiz said.
Reardon countered that argument, saying the data doesn’t prove the city’s police department doesn’t have an issue with racial profiling, either.
Munday acknowledged the process of filing a racial profiling complaint can be intimidating and said the panel is hoping to effect change in that regard. In fact, the commission is recommending the creation and implementation of an online reporting system.
Currently, reporting an incident of racial profiling requires an individual to enter the Berwyn Police Department to sign a sworn affidavit.
Munday said the commission believes if the city follows its recommendations, more people may be inclined to report complaints.
“I think that’s where with our recommendations we hope to get beyond fraught numbers and get to real people’s experiences in Berwyn,” she said.
Munday suggested that if anyone believes the panel’s findings are unfounded the next step is to bring in a subject matter expert to study and determine if there is an issue with racial profiling in Berwyn.
Police Chief Michael Cimaglia said he intends to the review the recommendations. In the meantime, the work of the Diversity Commission is not done.
“We want to continue this,” Lovero said. “We want to at least report back to how we’ve been cooperating with some of the recommendations and how far we’ve gotten, and I’m sure both the police and fire will do that. This seems like it’s going to have to be an ongoing effort.”