Board To Discuss Resolution To Defund Police In Oak Park

OAK PARK, IL — Oak Park Village Board members plan to consider a resolution during a special meeting Tuesday evening aimed at defunding the police department beginning in 2021. According to upcoming meeting agenda, Trustee Arti Walker-Peddakotla put forward a draft of the resolution on Aug. 16 for the village board to consider. According to the village, Trustee Buchanan seconded the request, and Mayor Anan Abu-Taleb, Trustee Moroney, Trustee Taglia, and Trustee Andrews also seconded this request on Aug. 21.

Walker-Peddakotla's resolution notes the village's 1968 adoption of one of the nation's first fair housing laws, and the village's first Oak Park Diversity Statement now, called the Oak Park Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Statement, which was created and enacted in 1973.

"Whereas, in order to enact the ideals written in the Oak Park Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Statement, we must first acknowledge the white supremacist history of not only the Oak Park
community, but the nation so that we can fully understand the current racial disparities present
in our village today," Walker-Peddakotla said, in the resolution.

The resolution calls for reducing the amount spent on policing in the village by reducing the number of budgeted sworn in officers during the fiscal year 2021 and "commit to making further reductions in future budget cycles."

In addition, Walker-Peddakotla calls for "Using the dollars from defunding the police to create a non-police response team for mental health crises, homelessness, and domestic disturbances" and "Acknowledging the harm done by policing in Oak Park and across the nation by enacting a memorial day for victims of police violence."

The resolution also calls for:

• Rescind Village of Oak Park laws and ordinances that may be used to unfairly target Black and Latinx youth.
• Removing the building of a new police station from the 2021 Capital Improvement Plan.
• Amending Chapter 2, Article 30 of the Village code to create a truly independent,empowered, and transparent Citizen Police Oversight Commission.

In the document, Walker-Peddakotla described this resolution as a "first step toward repairing the harms done by the Village of Oak Park to anyone who is Black and has stepped foot in our Village."

The village board plans to also discuss the commitment to work to enact other measures
that would lead to meaningful change.

>> Other items on the agenda

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This meeting of the Village Board will be conducted remotely with live audio and optional video of participating Village officials as authorized under executive order of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker.

The remote meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, and according to the village, will be streamed live and archived online for on-demand viewing, as well as cablecast on VOP-TV, which is available to Comcast subscribers on channel 6 and ATT Uverse subscribers on channel 99.

Patch will update this news as more information becomes available following Tuesday's meeting.