The number of stops of pedestrians by Oak Park police continues to be recorded and then reported to a very interested Oak Park Village Board. We report today on the 168 pedestrian stops made by local police between last July and December.
The key point is that the percentage of the stops made continues to tilt very heavily to Black people, especially Black men. During those six months between 71% and 90% of the stops were of Black pedestrians.
Go to the second layer of the data, though, and the story line shifts. Of those 168 stops of pedestrians only 19 were initiated by a police officer. All the rest were police responding to calls from residents raising concerns about a person they saw. Of course, police need to respond to every call for service and they do.
The source of those citizen concerns were reported most often by the cops as “suspicious person,” “trespass warning,” or “suspicious activity.”
In one of the more pointed quotes we’ve seen recently from a public official, Oak Park Trustee Cory Wesley pointed out that citizens are mainly calling police about Black people. “I get the feeling that our community doesn’t understand how to recognize suspicious white people,” he said at the board table.
A fair point.
But it creates a bit of a conundrum for Police Chief Shatonya Johnson, who was walking a line during the Feb. 11 board meeting. Oak Park, like many departments, has long pushed the concept of community policing. One aspect of that approach is urging residents to be observant and to never hesitate to place a call to the police.
Here’s her quote from that meeting. “Looking at the data, I don’t see biased stops. What I do see is the partnership that the police department has with the community in helping us keep the community safe.”
Our view is that both things are true. We do benefit when residents keep their eyes open and feel comfortable calling the police. There is a mutuality to policing that requires an active citizenry. The chief needs to be supportive of that involvement. That said, it is the responsibility of white people in Oak Park to become more discerning about what is actually suspicious behavior and where bias plays out in the thought process.
It is in these ways that we all, as a village, have the opportunity to prove out the values we espouse.