Amid union bargains, DeKalb police review board creation tabled again

DeKALB – A final vote to approve the creation of DeKalb’s citizens’ police review board was again tabled this week, following continued calls from the regional police union to bargain.

The DeKalb City Council voted unanimously on Monday to table the vote to a future meeting at the request of DeKalb City Manager Bill Nicklas. He said the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council – the regional arm of the local police union – sent on Sept. 10 a “demand to bargain” request to the City of DeKalb.

Nicklas said the union’s request is related to work conditions for police and regional leadership wanted to talk with city officials before the board’s creation.

“We have another session this Friday and, so we can proceed with good faith, we’d like not to take final action on this until after we know what the outcome from that bargaining is,” Nicklas said. “We’re pretty confident we’re down to some wordsmithing now. [When we] get there, we’ll bring back the red line version of what we’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks.”

DeKalb police officials previously told the Daily Chronicle that officers are generally in favor of the review board and the call to bargain was more of a formality to get related policies and protocol in writing.

Residents previously came forward, requesting the council to amend previous drafts of the review board’s creation and allow for the use of anonymous complaints made against officers. The request came as several, including DeKalb City Clerk Sasha Cohen, said they were survivors of sexual violence and should be allowed to make anonymous complaints for safety reasons.

As it stands now, the proposed board would hold informal hearings related to citizen complaints in public session, meaning anyone would have access to those meetings. The current draft of the board’s policy includes stipulation that the board only review signed and written complaints, not anonymous ones, since it “will publicly bear on a police officer’s career and professional standing,” city documents state.

Aldermen previously voiced concerns related to the U.S. Constitution’s Sixth Amendment, which provides anyone accused of a crime the right to know who their accusers are and the nature of the accusations. Nicklas said that’s the main argument as to why complaints made to the board could not be filed anonymously.

The creation of a citizens’ review board was first greenlit in August, spurred by local Black Lives Matter activists issuing a list of demands following the police murder of Minneapolis man George Floyd in the summer of 2020 to help with police accountability.

The review board will be tasked with deliberating over claims that an officer violated the DeKalb Police Department’s “use of force” policies and will then recommend steps for disciplinary action if necessary, or changes to the department’s training or other relevant procedures. It will be the police chief’s final say whether disciplinary actions are imposed.