Oak Park police present field-stop data as trustees press on racial disparity and responses to unhoused residents

Chief Shataya Johnson presented the Oak Park Police Department's field-stop report for the third and fourth quarters of 2024 and answered repeated questions from trustees about whether the stops reflect officer bias or community reporting patterns. The department reported 168 pedestrian stops in the two quarters and said roughly 11% were self-initiated by officers; the remainder stemmed from calls for service that produced field contact cards.

The discussion centered on whether the disproportionate share of stops involving Black residents reflects biased policing or biased reporting by community members. "Looking at the data, I don't see bias stops," Chief Johnson said, adding that many stops originated from business calls related to retail theft and trespass warnings rather than arrests. Trustee Wesley and others pressed for more nuance, saying the data visible in the report does not capture incidents that never get reported and argued the absence of some reports can itself indicate bias. "It's the data that we don't see on the page...that is indicative of the bias for me," Trustee Wesley said.

Trustees asked how the department distinguishes between self-initiated and call-initiated stops and whether repeat stops involve the same individuals. Chief Johnson said the department had a small number of repeat contacts and cited a case in which an individual with mental-health needs drew repeated calls. Board members also questioned how many people stopped were Oak Park residents; Johnson said most people involved in these incidents were not Oak Park residents and that some were unhoused.

Trustees raised particular concern about police responses to calls about unhoused people, especially in overnight incidents. Trustee Straub cited a stop at 3:48 a.m. in which officers asked a sleeping person to move along after two nights at the same location. The chief said additional context in the report can be limited by space in incident notes and that, in that case, officers believed the person matched the clothing description of an earlier auto-burglary suspect. The department is developing an alternative-calls-for-service program that will use a care team to help connect people in need with services rather than defaulting to displacement.

Trustees asked for additional breakdowns and follow-up: where calls are concentrated (specific addresses or businesses), whether the village is educating businesses that repeatedly call about suspicious people, and whether officer training or community education could reduce reporting disparities. Chief Johnson and Village Manager Jackson said the village is expanding community engagement and staffing to improve public education and strengthen the community-police relationship. Jackson also noted a new police community engagement position added in the budget and a Neighborhood Partnership Office that will participate in public education efforts.

Board members seeking more detail asked the department to provide additional analysis and to continue the conversation at future meetings. Several trustees said they wanted staff to examine possible follow-up steps, including targeted business outreach, refined reporting categories and more detailed monthly or quarterly breakdowns that show addresses, outcomes and whether incidents led to arrests, citations, trespass warnings or no action.

Ending: Trustees did not take formal action on the field-stop report. They asked staff to return with additional analysis and to continue developing the alternative response/care-team approach to reduce unnecessary contacts and better connect people in crisis with services.