A Special E-News Message from Village President Cathy Adduci, Village Administrator Eric Palm, Police Chief Jim O'Shea
Statement in Response to the Death of George Floyd
Dear River Forest Residents,
As in so many communities across the country, all of us here in the Village of River Forest are trying to come to grips with the shared grief and anger about the senseless death of George Floyd. The killing of George Floyd, while in the custody of a few Minneapolis, Minnesota police officers, was an abhorrent and unjust tragedy.
We want to reassure you that River Forest stands in opposition to police brutality. We demand and consistently receive the highest level of professionalism and respect from the River Forest Police Department and all Village employees. Our police department mission statement is to provide “professional, high quality and effective police service in partnership with the community.” We will not tolerate any police officer or staff member who betrays those values.
To demonstrate our commitment to the community, we believe that the following values are essential to having a professional police force: Integrity, Commitment to Employees, Community Partnership, Community Sensitive Policing and Professionalism. We work hard to put our values into practice by strategically investing in our police officers with the necessary training, resources and the right tools to treat everyone with respect and dignity. This investment is with a focus on de-escalation over force, crisis intervention and mental health, while being empathetic and compassionate with those we serve - whether they live inside or outside of River Forest.
Those values are stressed in our welcoming resolution of 2017, that we in the Village of River Forest are a community that welcomes and embraces all people from all races, colors, creeds, backgrounds and religions.
During the scheduled July 22, 2020 quarterly meeting of our police department, we will continue to talk about transparency, accountability and additional tools that may be needed to further our values.
But understand that while our officers continue to work in the utmost professional fashion, the focus must be on acknowledging and empathizing with the grief and pain of George Floyd’s family, the City of Minneapolis and our nation. As we move forward, the River Forest Police Department will continue to work with and for our community to ensure the safety of everyone during these challenging times.
Cathy Adduci, Village President
Eric Palm, Village Administrator
Jim O’Shea, Police Chief