Heightened security and metal detectors will be removed from Crystal Lake Park District board meetings starting in January after the board president initiated the measures because he felt “uncomfortable” during hostile meetings that included yelling, personal jabs and booing from the public.

The increased presence of park district police and a metal detector have appeared at the past four board meetings starting in September at the Main Beach Pavilion, where the meetings are held. In a 4-3 vote Monday, park board commissioners agreed to lessen security to just one police officer going forward.

According to park district expense reports, a weapons detection scanner came with a rental cost of $1,500. Then, the security measures dropped to only a metal detector rental for $325 per meeting.

Board President Frederick Tiesenga said during the September meeting that he was wearing a bulletproof vest, and said comments and actions by residents have made him uncomfortable.

At Monday’s meeting, Tiesenga said he’s seen “unprecedented hostility,” but agreed that “things are much calmer now.”

“I think that the added security has been commensurate with the behavior in the community and online,” he said. “Everybody in this room is safer. It is bad to be safer for $300 once a month? I don’t think it’s bad to be safer.”

Commissioner Cathy Cagle called for the decrease in “extraordinary security measures,” saying meetings have become calmer than in the past.

“We’re publicly declaring we don’t trust our own community. I think we are here to instill trust in our community and to be leaders that we love our community and we believe in our community,” she said. “It’s time to put on our big, adult pants and say, ‘We can do this.’”

Cagle pointed out that a Freedom of Information Act request did not show any threats were made to Tiesenga. He did not respond to her statement.

Commissioner Richard Hickey voted in favor of the decreased security – a move against his typical voting bloc of Jason Heisler, Keith Nisenson and Tiesenga. Those three board members were in the minority in seeking to maintain the higher-level security.

Multiple residents spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting in opposition to the increased security, including McHenry County Treasurer and Crystal Lake resident Donna Kurtz.

With Tiesenga focused on keeping tax dollar spending down, resident Brad Fennessy called it“fiscal hypocrisy” to have “unnecessary” security.

“Start by cutting the fear out of the budget,” he said. “Trust your community again. It’s free and it’s the only way to lead us forward in 2026.”