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Joliet police citizens’ review board proposal revived

City Council committee considers proposal for first time since November 2021

By Bob Okon
Terry Morris, District 5 Council, listenings to Interim Police Chief Robert Brown at the meeting for the Police Department Citizen Advisory Board proposal at the Council Chambers in Joliet City Hall. Thursday Oct. 28, 2021.

Joliet City Councilman Terry Morris at an October 2021 meeting of the Land Use and Legislative Committee listens to concerns raised about a citizens' board to review police department actions. (Gary Middendorf/The Herald-News)

A proposal for a citizens’ review board for the Joliet Police Department has been revived and is on the agenda of a Joliet City Council committee this week.

The Land Use and Legislative committee will consider the creation of the board for the first time since the matter was tabled nearly a year ago, in part to await the arrival of a new police chief.

Joliet Police Chief William Evans has been on board since March, and the committee will take up the matter on Thursday for the first time since November.

City staff has submitted a proposal with some changes, including putting all appointments to the committee in the hands of the mayor.

The Joliet Police Station in Joliet, IL

The Joliet police headquarters is located at 150 W. Washington St. (Bob Okon)

The item posted with the agenda online, includes notes indicating continued disagreement on several points in the proposal.

Committee Chairman Terry Morris acknowledged that the proposal will need some work.

“We’ll use this opportunity to put a draft together that we can bring to the council,” Morris said of the Thursday meeting,

Whether the committee will be ready to send a proposal to the full City Council for a final vote Morris was not sure.

But Morris said the latest proposal does reflect input from Chief Evans.

“This is the reason why it was tabled before,” Morris said. “We were waiting for the new chief. From my understanding, he has talked with people about it. He has weighed in.”

Members of the Will County Progressives have been among those pushing for a citizens committee to have some oversight or input into police department practices and policies.

Advocates for change in the Joliet Police Department demonstrate outside Joliet City Hall in July.

Advocates for change in the Joliet Police Department demonstrate outside Joliet City Hall in July 2020. (Shaw Media)

The push came in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer, and as questions surfaced about the death of Eric Lurry while in custody of Joliet police. Authorities have determined that Lurry died in January 2020 from a self-ingested overdose of substances including fentanyl as he was being arrested in a drug investigation. But police handling of Lurry, who went into a coma while in custody, has come under question.

Advocates for a police review committee have included Suzanna Ibarra, who is among four candidates to take out petitions to get on the April 4 ballot in Morris’s District 5 including Morris. Tycee Bell, who has taken out petitions to run for mayor, also has been an advocate.

The latest proposal contains several changes including how members of the citizens review committee would be appointed.

A past proposal called for members to be appointed individually by the eight members of the City Council and the mayor.

The latest proposal would mirror the process for other city commissions in which the mayor makes the appointments with approval from the City Council.

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