Board discusses shrinking police commission to three members; no vote taken

Beecher — The Village Board discussed proposed changes to the police commission’s membership at its June 9 meeting, including a committee recommendation to reduce membership from five to three and to change trustees’ role from voting members to liaisons.

Village officials said the committee’s recommendation would configure the commission to include the police chief, the village administrator and one member of the public. That approach reflects a change after state or municipal guidance that trustees should not serve as voting members of commissions; trustees may continue to attend and listen but not vote. The attorney’s draft had inconsistencies (it listed five members but enumerated only four) and staff asked the attorney to correct the ordinance language before any formal vote.

Trustees voiced differing views about the composition and independence of the commission. One trustee said the proposed configuration puts two staff members (the chief and the administrator) on the commission and suggested that may create an imbalance; another trustee suggested increasing the number of public members to three to provide a more even distribution. The committee recommended three members for ease of recruitment and because small municipalities often use three‑member commissions.

No ordinance was adopted at the meeting. The board directed staff and the village attorney to redraft the police-commission language to resolve the numeric inconsistency and to return the revised draft for future consideration.