Oak Park orders third-party review of chaotic Halloween crowd-control; chief defends response

The Oak Park Village Board directed staff to commission a third-party after-action review and asked the Citizen Police Oversight Committee (CPOC/CPAC) to review a chaotic Halloween crowd-control incident after public testimony about pepper-ball use and officer tactics.

A resident, Jasper Nord, who said he witnessed the event on Lake Street, told trustees the police response felt chaotic and questioned whether pepper balls and other crowd-control munitions were appropriate. "It didn't seem like it was dispersal. It did not seem like it was really controlled," Nord said in public comment.

Chief Johnson described the operational circumstances that prompted mutual-aid requests. "We had a total of 18 officers from 6 different police departments that left their community to come here to provide mutual aid," the chief said, and recounted that a gunshot was fired that night and that officers had to move large crowds to prevent injuries. He said the department will pursue an objective after-action review and recommended bringing in an outside facilitator to support CPOC’s review.

Trustees debated the goals and scope of an oversight review: some argued for a full independent assessment to build public trust and identify procedural improvements for mutual-aid operations and use-of-force and less-lethal tools; others cautioned that a public, adversarial approach could jeopardize future mutual-aid assistance from neighboring departments. One trustee noted the event's scale—hundreds of largely young participants—and said the mutual-aid response probably prevented more serious harm.

The board approved the motion to direct CPAC to review the Halloween incident and to have the village manager initiate an independent after-action review; staff recommended using the PIVOT group to support the oversight committee's work. Trustees discussed and agreed that the purpose is learning and transparency rather than casting blame.

Ending: Staff will initiate the after-action assessment and coordinate with CPAC and any selected facilitator; the committee is expected to report findings and recommendations to the board.