Community Relations

The Village of La Grange Park and the La Grange Park Police Department have a commitment to serving every resident, business owner and guest of our community with integrity, service and pride.  The La Grange Park Police Department strives on building meaningful relationships with all members of the community – no matter race, gender, orientation, and beliefs.

As law enforcement officers, we have an obligation to uphold the U.S. Constitution and civil rights of everyone we come into contact with. The current challenges that law enforcement faces are real and need to be addressed. With that being said, it is essential that we all recognize that no one group or system owns the entire problem and no one group or system will provide the entire solution. We must never be complacent in our efforts to maintain trust and transparency with the residents and businesses that we serve. We must continue to reevaluate, recommit, and renew our focus on sustaining trusting relationships with the entire community.

Law enforcement agencies can only be effective if they have the support of the community, and that support is based on trust and legitimacy. The La Grange Park Police department understands that the legitimacy is more than just good police relations and runs much deeper through sustained community engagement. As a Village, and more importantly, as your Police Department, we understand that transparency helps build that trust and legitimacy.

The La Grange Park Police Department focuses on making sure that all officers are trained on unbiased and fair policing. A new probationary police officers receives a minimum of 560 hours of basic law enforcement training prior to the graduation from the police academy. In addition to the required academy time, probationary police officers receive up to an additional 480 hours in a Field Training Program before they are cleared for solo patrol.

The La Grange Park Police Department utilizes the services of the Police Law Institute for monthly web based training. The training topics vary by month but cover the latest U.S. and state appellate court decisions and new legislation enacted by the state legislature. Over the past two years, the required training has included instruction on topics such as: cultural competency, constitutional rights, ethical and cultural awareness, civil rights, de-escalation and procedural justice. The La Grange Park Police Department currently has eleven police officers who have completed extensive crisis training and are Crisis Intervention Certified.

In October 2019, the Village subscribed to Lexipol, which provides state-specific policies for law enforcement that are supported by case-law and continuously updated based on best practices. Lexipol provides all La Grange Park Police Officers with both daily and monthly training on the departments policies and procedures. Some of those trainings focus on topics that include Use of Force, Bias-Based Policing, Discriminatory Harassment, and Crisis Intervention Incidents to name a few.

The La Grange Park Police Department is committed to fair policing through the adaptation of formal policies. The Department has a policy (Policy 401) that strictly prohibits Bias-Based Policing and affirms the Department’s commitment to policing that is fair and objective. This policy requires every member of the Department to perform his/her duties in a fair and objective manner and be responsible for promptly reporting any suspected or known instances of bias-based actions by another Officer. Officers also should, when reasonable to do so, intervene to prevent any bias-based actions. The Department’s policy on Discriminatory Harassment (Policy 313) affirms our commitment to a safe work environment, free from discrimination. The Department’s Police on Use of Force (Policy 300) recognizes and respects the value of all human life and dignity without prejudice to anyone.

Currently, the La Grange Park Police Department utilizes a multitude of resources to connect with its residents. Those resources consist of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, weekly safety briefs, bi-annual Citizens Police Academy, quarterly coffee with the Chief, block party visits, adopt a cop program, National Night Out, connect program, along with contracted social worker services through Presence Behavioral Health – ProCare through Amita Health.