Anonymous email shows 'fear' Elgin residents have of police, task force says

An email from an Elgin resident concerned about a police officer's Facebook post is shining a light on both the forces driving the need for the city's task force on policing and the limitations for what it may accomplish.

The 18-member volunteer task force hosted two meetings so far in October. In both of those meetings, the task force found their efforts to get organized and establish priorities to address during the next eight months overshadowed by an anonymous email sent to the task force by a resident who described herself as a 45-year-old professional Black woman.

The email expressed concerns about a personal Facebook post by police Sgt. Enrique Santiago. In the post, Santiago, who is on medical leave, said he was ready to return to work and show "how cops should truly be and not this political crap."

Task force members initially reacted with concern, citing the post as an example of negative police culture. But police Chief Ana Lalley investigated the post and talked to Santiago, revealing the full context of the Facebook post to the task force this week.

The post also contained religious imagery of the patron saint of police officers and a picture of a police officer embracing a child to indicate what Santiago meant by "how cops should truly be."

Lalley told the task force she understood how the wording in the post might be concerning. However, she said any rush to judgment without getting the officer's side of the story and the full context of what happened is a prime example of people reacting out of preconceived, negative feelings toward police.

"I do not believe respect, honor or graciousness was provided to either the author of the email or Sgt. Santiago," Lalley said while expressing she believes it was inappropriate that the private email addresses of both parties were revealed to the public in discussing the letter and post.

Lalley said her review determined Santiago committed no department policy violations. She also read a statement from Santiago.

"While some might view police work as citations and arrests, teaching officers to build personal relationships in the community is the actual heart of community policing," Santiago wrote. "When there is a question about why we did something, don't assume that every police officer is acting from a negative or bad place."

With additional information in hand, task force members said, despite the missing context in the email, they encourage communication from residents about their concerns and the experiences they've had with the police.

Task force member Karen Arreola said the email is an example of the challenges the task force was created to address.

"The sentiment that came with this email really says a lot about the sentiment of part of the community, which is fear," Arreola said. "I'm sure she's not the only one who feels this way. This is one of those people that we need to consider what it is they've experienced in Elgin."

But members also clarified their lack of authority to review complaints about specific officers or impose any disciplinary action. Several task force members emphasized that as an inherent weakness of the task force to invoke real change in the police force.

"You're not going to get change until you're willing to face the things that need to change," said the Rev. Walter Blalark, who is also on the task force. "There may be some things that we are going to hear that may be uncomfortable. Not everything is going to be positive."

With that as the backdrop, the task force agreed its first focus will be the issue of police accountability. Lalley will explain the department's accountability measures at the next task force meeting on Oct. 21.

The task force is then expected to discuss instances they believe those measures have failed and how to improve them.