Home Getting Played in Peoria Does Systemic Racism Play in Peoria Part 4

Does Systemic Racism Play in Peoria Part 4

26 October 2019

There have been a number of public, private, and social attempts to address systemic racism in Peoria. What has been attempted? What has been accomplished? What still needs to be done?

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In October 2019, Peoria County received a “a $5.6 million grant addressing home-health and safety hazards, the largest grant the county has received… The grant, which will be used for lead abatement, will impact 380 homes over two years.”¹ These types of projects have the potential to have an enormous influence in addressing crime.

Lead has been known for centuries to lead to lower IQs, increased aggression and criminality. “The lead-crime hypothesis is pretty simple: lead poisoning degrades the development of childhood brains in ways that increase aggression, reduce impulse control, and impair the executive functions that allow people to understand the consequences of their actions. Because of this, infants who are exposed to high levels of lead are more likely to commit violent crimes later in life.”² The effect lead has had on the human species cannot be underestimated. In the 20^th century, almost every country that increased their use of lead in petroleum, paint, and other goods saw a corresponding rise in violent crimes during this period. Towards the end of the century, as countries began to ban lead from gasoline & paint, there was a corresponding decrease in crime. Though lead does not explain all crime and there are many different factors effecting crime, lead is underestimated in its influence. The most crime ridden neighborhoods in Peoria are correspondingly home to most of the older homes many of which have lead in the paint and pipes.

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Peoria Public Schools District 150 is set to receive a $3.4 million grant for the purpose of tutoring, counseling, and working to keep students out of the criminal justice system.

“The Climate Transformation Grant of over $3.4 million grant called ‘Lights on, Peoria’ will go towards Richwoods, Peoria High and Manual high schools, according to a release by PPS Wednesday… The grant will allow PPS to fill in gaps of support for high school students residing in the city’s Opportunity Zones[East Bluff and South Side], equipping schools to help under-served and marginalized students. The purpose, PPS officials said, is to ensure a ‘safe and supportive school climate.’ Additionally, the grant will help provide positive weekend experiences for students.”³

This will hopefully allow District 150 to provide more personalized and individual methods of assisting students, especially students with a history of trauma, mental health or behavioral issues.

Included in the grant are:

Academic tutoring
Social emotional counseling
Career mentoring
Expanded opportunities for competency-based learning
Connections to community services and agencies
Justice advocates
Opioids education
Professional learning

Of particular interest is the new justice advocates some students will receive. I spoke with Chief School Safety Administrator for District 150 Demario Boone about exactly what the justice advocates would do. “Justice Advocates are people that are caseworkers for students out of jail or JDC. [This] will help them with services to not re-offend, to get jobs, and be successful. We were having too many juveniles that got out, not be successful. We need to help more.” Justice advocates will be expected to go beyond the school hallways addressing students’ needs where the live. “When [students] went to the alternative schools and were successful in the smaller environment, they’d have issues during [school] breaks. We’d see them locked up again just when things were finally turning around academically. The Justice advocates will help stem that tide.”

**Demario Boone, Chief School Safety Administrator for District 150**

More social emotional counselors will help students who are acting out because of untreated trauma from home or neighborhood environments. New research over the last decade has revealed that many people who live and grow up in high crime areas have untreated forms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). “We found that traumatic experience and PTSD associated with being aggressive across sexes of an inner city population.”⁴ The trauma that one can experience living in the East Bluff or South Side of Peoria can be caused by direct forms of violence like assaults or domestic abuse; but it can also include acts of violence that are not specifically directed at the traumatized individual like consistently hearing gun shots in your neighborhood or witnessing domestic violence between parents or loved ones. If this trauma goes untreated it can lead to several deleterious effects: lower empathic resonance, deficits in mentalizing and emotion recognition, lower levels of empathic concern, decreased perspective taking and difficulty recognizing social relationships.⁵ It’s not a stretch to see these symptoms manifest among gang members and other inner city residents. Left untreated, PTSD can develop into very self-destructive survival strategies.

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These are a series of recommendations for PPD from researcher Britta Johnson who wrote the study, “Does Systemic Racism Play in Peoria? A Case Study of Traffic Stops by the Peoria Police Department” are justice advocates?

“Recommendations for the Peoria Police Department

The following is a comprehensive list of seven suggestions specifically focused for the Peoria Police Department based off previous research, my research and with a strong emphasis from the recommendations given from the Department of Justice to the Ferguson Police Department. I make this emphasis because this particular investigation is the most in-depth study done in the field of racial profiling and should be given proper recognition since most researchers do not have unlimited access to police data and personnel like the Department of Justice.Since racial profiling is an issue within systemic racism across the United States, these recommendations are valid for most police departments. I am confident, however, given the Peoria Police Department’s past record, they will be successful in implementing the following if they hold true to the procedural justice model (The procedural justice model of policing argues that police can build general legitimacy among the public by treating people justly during personal encounters).

1. Implement a Robust System of True Community Policing

During my research, I was unable to find true community policing efforts made by the Peoria Police Department. There have been some programs that place officers residentially in each police district and the police hold events that often are attended by family and friends of the officers. While these are good things to have in the department, I am skeptical of their impact on the most vulnerable to crime community members. Past research and the FPD investigation suggest creating a more community based police department by increasing opportunities for officers to have frequent and positive interactions with people outside of any enforcement contact, purposely populations who have negative ideas of police officers. Avoiding patrol shifts longer than 8 hours has shown to reduce stress and in affect, decrease unconscious racial profiling. I would also recommend not assigning geographic areas, or districts, so small that cause patrol officers to patrol the same street 5-10 times a shift while on the other hand not patrolling other streets in bigger districts for days.

Every study conducted has suggested train, train and train again. This is perhaps the most important and essential thing any police department should do and can do so on any budget. This should be reoccurring (not just 3 hours at the academy) and frequent (not just once a year). Psychology research has taught us that untangling unconscious racial stereotypes is a skill that needs work in each individual. The Department of Justice suggested including crime prevention, officer safety and anti-discrimination advantages of community policing to be included in the training. It is important that officers know what community policing is in action, and their role in implementing it successful and not just a single event for the newspapers.

This also helps police officers reduce their stress and anxiety caused by the nature of the job requirements and environment. It can help reduce the gut reactions of criminality based on stereotypes and reduce the risk of officers over reacting in situations. The Department of Justice recommends measure and evaluating individual performance using community engagements, problem-oriented-policing projects and crime prevention rather than productivity (such as book-based exams).

2. Focus the Purpose of Traffic Stops on Public Safety

Peoria police officers should give great care to when deciding to take enforcement action. The duty of the police is to promote public safety. Therefore, enforcement action is required when it promotes public safety, not simply because they have the legal authority to do so. Therefore, I firmly suggest removing any form of evaluating the number of tickets each officer has given. Specifically eliminating the ten tickets a month benchmark for Peoria police officers even if it is not enforced strictly speaking. Numerous studies based on the realistic conflict theory find that quota systems increase racial profiling (Department of Justice, 2015; Sherif, 1961). This evidence was what noted pro-quota governor Quinn to sign a bill making quotas illegal in Illinois in 2014 (Washington Post, 2014). The Police Chief at the time, Settingsgaard, said without the quota, he was afraid Peoria officers would slack on enforcement (2014). The Department of Justice would disagree, noting this was a contributing problem to racial profiling conflicts in the Ferguson police department and found setting fixed traffic stop goals for revenue, even as one of many reasons, strictly illegal.

The Department of Justice suggested to Ferguson requiring supervisory approval prior to issuing more than 2 citations, making an arrest due to failure to comply, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and/or obstruction of government operations. I suggest this because supervisors should have more in-depth knowledge on the applications of the law naturally by their gained positions and can help guide officers in learning the proper use of the law instead of reinforcing misinterpretations. This also helps take pressures off individual police officers and onto the department since officers may hesitate to act due to unfamiliarity to the law and fear of being punished for mistaken misconduct. This, however, does not mean that police officers do not need training. Like suggested within the first point, this training should be initial at the academy and regularly recurring to help Peoria police officers refine the skill of policing without bias. More information on training can be found in point five.

3. Continuously Collect and Analyze Police Data

Once the quota system has been removed, it should be required of officers to report all stops, even if the interaction does not result in a citation but especially if the stop resulted in a search. Data of any kind should be coupled with a more robust geographic location system such as a corresponding map for beat locations. If possible, this data should be evaluated anonymous of the officer. This allows for further data collection to track the improvements of the department as a whole in response to the changes and not intended to punish individual officers. Checks for individual bias will be discussed in another point.

It is important to develop a system that regularly reviews this data to ensure consistency with public safety goals. This analysis should look at several indicators such as race, gender and age to detect problematic trends in the department such as this research sought to do. If a problem is detected, it should be followed by a comprehensive plan to decrease the issue during a concrete amount of time centered on the promotion of public safety of all individuals of Peoria. Ideally, this plan would include community members outside of the police department (see point one).

4. Reevaluate the Don’t Shoot Program/ Strict-on-Crime Programs

Strict-on-crime or “Broken Windows” programs can work in theory, but often times do not work in application due to critical errors in design. I would recommend stripping the program of intimidation tactics and promote community resources and involvement that tackle the issues causing people to want to join gangs in the first place. Further research specialized in this field would be needed to make these transitions successful. Where these fields overlap in solutions is noted in point one on community policing.

5. Initial and Regularly Recurring Training

Training is the most important thing any police department can do to become more efficient and successful. This research, previous research, and the Department of Justice supports the unfortunate reality that training is lax when it comes to racial profiling. Racial profiling cannot be fix by simply putting cameras on officers and TASERs on their belts. TASERs alone can cause for further racial profiling because officers will used TASERs when unnecessary for convenience and do not practice other de-escalation techniques leaving them vulnerable. Cameras alone can cause officers to second-guess themselves in fear of accidental misconduct due to improper training. However, these two things combine with other incentives canbe a tool for decreasing racial profiling in police departments.

This training should require officers to continuously perfect their de-escalation techniques and consider TASERs as a last resort especially in schools. In tandem with point one, it is important to eliminate avoidable disparities in the use of force by helping officers not to interpret low tense situations as high tense and life threatening. Although a few officers may know what racial profiling as a rough concept, it is important for officers to have initial and recurring training that include how stereotypes and implicit bias affect police work from specialists who study the concept professionally. This will help police officers understand, navigate and ask questions about the importance of procedural justice, police legitimacy, the negative impacts of profiling and how it does not jeopardize officer safety, but actually improves safety. This step could also be most effective if it involved community members, especially members who have distrust for the police.

Supervisors should be trained on how to detect bias profiling such as “early intervention systems” and proper ways of responding to misconduct by assigning officers with additional attention, training and/or equipment to improve their effectiveness. This is discussed in further detail in point 6.

Including community members in this training is most important; especially populations who have high levels of distrust The Peoria Police Department. Incorporating civilian input into all aspects of policing including policy development, training, use of force reviews, and investigation of misconduct complaints is pressed in most studies.

6. Develop Mechanisms to More Effectively Respond to Allegations of Officer Misconduct

This recommendation requires complaints to be filed and investigated by supervisors. This investigation should not include any person involved in the misconduct in any way. The system should be fair and consistent in its discipline for the misconduct of officers and these guidelines should be clearly disseminated to the officers for continuous reference.

In terms of racial profiling, this would mean putting in place a system of checks that is objective to find bias and train supervisors on the appropriate response to officers found to hold bias either by more training or equipment such as TASER or body camera.

7. Compressive Hiring Practices that Test for Strong Implicit Bias

As it currently stands, the Peoria Police Department does not have checks in place to look for racial bias during the entry examinations. I would suggest using a check such as the Harvard Implicit Bias test to check for any extreme biases. I do not suggest rejecting a person based on the test results, especially if they test well in other areas. If this is the case, I would recommend training the individual and retesting them to see if their biases can be changed with the proper exposure to training.

Recommendations for the Public

This research has shown that it is very important for data collection to be comprehensive, complete and wide in span. The national bill for data collection has been unsuccessful in the past, but with the renewed public knowledge on systemic racism, there is a strong chance it can be revived. People can also push for departments to collect data without a mandated law. This helps researchers, individuals and departments to track and check the progress of systems to becoming unbiased. Currently, Illinois requires departments to collect data on stops that result in a ticket but this can be extended to track even more information necessary for a full review.

Support changes in the police department in response to research and get involved in the process. The only interaction people have with the police should not be at traffic stops. Do not accept increase in traffic stops and arrest rates as proof of stricter policing. The end goal is a safer community for everyone and this takes everyone to do.

Most importantly, learn about how systemic racism takes place in your everyday life whilst appreciating the work done by our local officers. According to Martin Luther King Jr., the biggest threat to justice is the silent majority. Eliminating systemic racism requires community involvement and can increase officer safety. Letting our minority populations know that we support them, does not mean we do not support our police. It is important to make that message very clear. It takes a community to recognize the problem and a community to fix the problem. I merely suggest that the Peoria Police Department can be a vessel for that change.⁶

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Jesse McGown Jr, an East Bluff activist created a non-profit called Community Neighborhood Association Inc. The goal of the organization is to take people fresh out of the criminal justice system, individuals with multiples strikes against them, and train them in home improvement skills and other trades. The non-profit would then use those individuals to build houses in the community. These houses would then be rented out to low-income residents at no more than $500 a month. After so many years, once the Community Neighborhood Association has covered the costs, the renter could then take ownership of the house. This option seeks to spread home ownership to residents that would normally not have the opportunity.

Another opportunity that has yet to be actualized is Andre Allen’s #RebootPeoria plan. The plan requires multiple steps and addresses a number of city concerns, including homelessness, affordable housing, declining tax revenues, and environmental degradation.
1. Auction off vacant lots below market rates to anyone within community; these properties would then be able to generate tax revenue.
2. City-owned vacant homes that cannot be sold would be renovated by the City; Allen says he’d pay for the costs of renovation with a grant from HUD. Once the property is up to living standards, the properties would be set up as section 8 housing for low-income residents. The City would act as the landlord of the home for three years and ultimately generate profit. After three years, the City would sell the property, again below-market value to spur home ownership among lower income residents.
3. Vacant lots that could not be sold would be converted into green spaces.
You can read more about this plan here. “The more homes and lots we have [with owners], we can disburse the property tax burden more evenly,” Allen said.

Both of these plans have the goal of providing affordable housing to low income residents with the eventual ability of spurring greater home ownership. Owning your own homes opens up possibilities for upward mobility by granting individuals access to capital from their own homes. I would say that Allen’s plan has a greater chance of success and the ability to help a larger quantity of individuals because it would have the support of both local and federal institutions.

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Chris McCall Interview

In part 2, I talked about the multiple problems with the Peoria States Attorney office. I got to talk with private attorney Chris McCall, who is currently running in next years election for States Attorney. On the Democratic side, Chris McCall will take on recently appointed Peoria States Attorney Judi Hoos. This will actually be the second time the two have faced off against each other. McCall also applied for the States Attorney position left vacant by the demise of Jerry Brady in June 2019.

Shortly after her appointment, Hoos commented she had no plans to change any of the prosecution teams she will overseas, continuing a long pattern of mass incarceration & racial inequity at the Peoria States attorney that goes back before Kevin Lyons tenure as Peoria’s top prosecutor. Hoos worked for many years as a prosecutor in Peoria County.

“Sherry Cannon is the local NAACP chapter’s secretary. She said the state’s attorney’s office is resistant to expunging criminal records. She also holds them responsible for disproportionately high rates of African-American incarceration in Peoria County, and high rates of black children taken into foster care in Peoria County. She also said Peoria County has a low number of black employees and officeholders.”⁷

Chris McCall presents himself as a break from the status-quo of mass incarceration from the States Attorney office. “McCall has worked for 15 years as both a prosecutor and defense attorney. He founded his private practice in 2005. Most of his work is in family law and criminal defense. He has also served as a hearing officer for Peoria Public Schools District 150.”⁸ He says he has big plans on correcting many of the errors in the criminal justice system.

“At current levels, it costs $180,000 in our county to incarcerate a child for a year,” McCall said. “The programs I am proposing to redirect would-be criminals, to offer parenting classes prior to foster care and to protect victims from further victimization would cost a faction of that cost, while making our communities safer places for all of us to live.” He says his policies will help sever the bonds of generational poverty.

“McCall said he would hire a bilingual social worker focused on redirecting juvenile and non-violent, first-time offenders. He also plans to start a once-a-month evening court for petty offenses, so people don’t have to take time off from work to attend court during the day.

Another top priority: creating an Advisory Committee on Police Shootings to make recommendations about the legal response to such events.”⁹

I spoke with Chris McCall over the phone about his project for criminal justice in Peoria.

Zach Gittrich: You’ve heard about the decision to try 14-year old Zaveon Marks as an adult for the murder of 16-year old Zarious Fair. What are the circumstances where you would be willing to try juveniles as adults?

Chris McCall: As a candidate for States Attorney, I shouldn’t comment on specific cases. When it comes to trying juveniles as adults, there’s a couple of things that have to be kept in mind. For 16 & 17-year olds, certain extremely serious crimes are statutorily required to be tried in adult courts. However, juveniles from 13 to 15-year olds are left up to the prosecutor’s discretion. I think it is very important to take into consideration the crime itself and the circumstances surrounding it (was it a random or pre-planned offense). I would also examine the minor’s history of delinquency and consult the teachers and educators. Finally, I would make sure I consult the victim’s family.

ZG: What are some of the things you’d like to do as State’s Attorney to address racial inequities in Peoria County?

CM: First, I would hire more minorities to the SA office. There are currently very few people of color working there; and, many people of color have left the office because they have not received the same opportunities as white attorneys.

Second, I would assemble a taskforce to review all incidents of police involved shootings. Currently, when deciding to charge officers the SA office only has senior staff review these cases, and I think the current process lacks confidence among the people. Some people see this process and think it’s blue supporting blue.

ZG: Who would you appoint to this task force?

CM: I would include retired judges, senior staff, and retired, diverse police officers to advise on whether to prosecute or not. I believe this would give the community more confidence in the system.

ZG: What about appointing members from various civil rights groups?

CM: I’m open to that; however, I don’t want to be in the process of teaching the law to laypeople. So, whoever is appointed to the task force needs to have a familiarity with the law so as to get to the task at hand.

ZG: What is your position on the use of money bail for those arrested? Are you willing to ban money bail for all nonviolent offenders who are arrested?

CM: I want to work towards banning that. I am supportive of legislative efforts to ban money bond for nonviolent offenses (with the exception of stalking, harassment, and trespassing). Myself, I would likely begin by looking at nonviolent traffic offenses and misdemeanors.

ZG: What are some of the problems you’ve seen from PPD in the way they enforce the law?

CM: It seems that some officers–younger officers–are sent to some areas where they don’t have relationship. There needs to be a more diverse police force. The PPD needs to focus more on relationship building and communication with neighborhoods that may distrust them. Furthermore, anyone who is stopped in a high-crime area, I won’t prosecute just because they look “nervous”.

At the same time, police officers need to understand that as long as they do the right things, McCall will support them. The job can certainly be difficult and involves lots of split-second judgment decisions, but at the end of the day, it’s still a job they chose. I also think most officers are doing good and want to do good.

ZG: What are your thoughts on Peoria’s use of nuisance abatements as a way to remove “problem” tenants from their homes?

CM: That’s more of a city issue than a SA issue. I would have to defer to the city attorney.

ZG: Even though it is not the job of the SA would you be willing to work with school Districts to teach students about the law and the penalties that go with committing a crime? I ask because while most kids know that certain actions are crimes, they often don’t understand the full consequences and penalties that go with committing certain crimes.

CM: Yes, I would, and it’s something I already do as a private attorney. Its something I’ve been doing since 2005. I go to local schools, from grade schools to college. I talk about what happens in court, basic things that can get them in trouble, I talk about trauma, how to interact with police that is respectful but within their rights. I want to continue to do that at a greater scale. I would also send traffic prosecutors into drivers ed to discuss the penalties of driving without a license or insurance.

ZG: Back in April, a black woman was almost murdered by a racist white man who threatened to kill her. He was not charged with a Federal hate crime and was eventually put into veterans court where he received 15 months court supervision and 200 hours of community service. The victim feels she was railroaded. How would you have handled this case differently?

CM: I cant speak about this specific case. But, in general, we must support victims. Talk to victims every point of case, that is what is needed.

ZG: Do you think more should be done to hold the police accountable to the general public? What things would you support to make this happen?

CM: That’s more of a city issue. But, if an officer has a reputation of bias or unfair treatment or has a habit of turning their body camera off, the best way to punish those officers is to make it clear we wont prosecute cases involving those officers.

ZG: Is there anything else you’d like to add?

CM: The primary election is March 17^th, and I would love peoples’ support. I want to focus on more intervention programs, help victims of crimes, and do more to treat victims of recent trauma. I believe all defendants should be treated the same under the law.

This article was originally published on Strangecornersofthought.com.